Questions

626. Deputy William Aird asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the details of the new maximum fee caps being introduced under the core funding programme for early learning and childcare services from September 2026; the expected impact of these changes on affordability for families; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47527/26]

627. Deputy William Aird asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will outline any recent or proposed changes to the compensation and redress schemes for persons who, as children, were resident in mother and baby homes and county home institutions; whether the Government is considering revisions to payment levels, eligibility requirements or access to benefits under the scheme; and if she will …

628. Deputy William Aird asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of successful claims made in the mother and baby institutions payment scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47529/26]

629. Deputy William Aird asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of unsuccessful claims made in the baby institutions payment scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47530/26]

630. Deputy William Aird asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if consideration will be given to the inclusion of an institution (details supplied) in the baby institutions payment scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47531/26]

631. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality when the National Conversation on Education: The First Five Years and School-Age Care National event will be taking place; the reason the originally proposed date of 17th June was cancelled; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47557/26]

632. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will provide an update on the proposed new childcare facility in Glanmire, County Cork; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47565/26]

633. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she is aware that some rural families are effectively excluded from the national childcare scheme due to the absence of participating providers in their locality; if consideration is being given to alternative supports, such as a rural access provision or financial assistance, for such families; and if she will make a statement on th…

634. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to confirm that a HIQA report, due to be published next week regarding a service (details supplied) is still to be published; to indicate the date of the publication; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47614/26]

635. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the total landholding of her Department, broken down by county, including the amount currently unused or vacant, the portion zoned for development, and the number of sites that include vacant or derelict properties. [47618/26]

636. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of staff currently in place for each discipline and the corresponding positions vacant on each CDNT; the county it relates to, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47647/26]

637. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to advise who is responsible within her Department for the implementation of the EU Disability Card, if any organisations are involved in this process; the position regarding this; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47790/26]

638. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 1770 of 9 June 2026, and in light of her statement in that reply that Tusla’s allocation framework is not yet implemented as there is no formal staff agreement, the legal basis for non-qualified Tusla staff being employed to undertake social work tasks, as outlined in HIQA's inspection of Child …

639. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the specific information, metrics and performance indicators reported by Tusla to her Department regarding permanency planning for children in care; the frequency of such reporting; and if she will provide a copy of the most recent report received. [47798/26]

640. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether Tusla or her Department maintains national data on the length of time children spend awaiting permanency decisions; if so, the figures for each of the past five years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47799/26]

641. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether any national targets, benchmarks or expected timelines exist for permanency planning decisions involving children in care; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47800/26]

642. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the current capacity of registered school-age childcare (before-school and afterschool/“sherpa”) services in Ballincollig, Cork north central; whether her Department or Tusla holds data on unmet demand for such places in the area; whether her Department has been notified of any existing provider in Ballincollig withdrawing or reducing af…

643. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the assessment her Department has made of the impact of population growth in Ballincollig, Cork north central on demand for school-age childcare places; whether the County Childcare Committee structure in Cork has flagged Ballincollig as an area of capacity concern; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47802/26]

644. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality her views on the labour market impact where a parent, disproportionately the lower-paid parent in a household, is forced to reduce working hours or exit the workforce due to the unavailability of afterschool childcare; whether her Department has conducted or commissioned any analysis of this effect on workforce participation and tax reve…

645. Deputy Marie Sherlock asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality her plans to review the NCS to facilitate greater flexibility of hours of attendance with no subsequent penalisation of NCS entitlement or provider funding. [47820/26]

646. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 393 of 29 January 2026, if a copy of Tusla’s Personal Data Breach Policy and Breach Management Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and new staff guidance on reporting data breaches can be provided; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47836/26]

647. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to provide details of all recorded incidents of Tusla 'personal data breaches' for 2025 and to date in 2026, broken down for each recorded incident (details supplied). [47837/26]

648. Deputy Denise Mitchell asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the strategy in place to provide continuing professional development in the early years sector; the plans to expand CPD offerings for educators working in the sector; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47838/26]

649. Deputy Denise Mitchell asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the subject areas that are a priority for continuing professional development in the early years sector; the number of CPD fields of study that will be made available; the total budget figure that her Department has committed to the provision of CPD; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47839/26]

650. Deputy Denise Mitchell asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the steps being taken to ensure continuing professional development is available across early years services statewide; if she accepts that widespread access to CPD is vital to the implementation of the Aistear framework and creating inclusive learning environments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47840/26]