Questions

849. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her Department can provide a breakdown of how many families in Kildare, who use core funding childcare, fall into each band from A to F in tabular form. [74135/26]

853. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the plans to include band F childcare families under core funding in the €550 cap announced in Budget 2027 from September of next year. [74138/26]

854. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the reason her Department announced under budget 2027 that there would be a €550 cap on childcare for families when it is only applicable to families who fall under band E or below and not for band F families with 50+ hours of childcare. [74137/26]

855. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of core funded creches in Kildare which fall into each of the bands A to F, in tabular form. [74136/26]

652. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to provide a list of all crèches in receipt of core funding in County Kildare. [72059/26]

364. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her Department is aware of delays in the opening of a new creche (details supplied) due to Tusla sign-off, given the current issues facing towns in north Kildare with population increases; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54252/26]

44. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the supports available to people looking at setting up creches and afterschool services, particularly in locating and paying for spaces; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47283/26]

76. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will further reduce the new cap of €734 a month per child on childcare; the timeframe for when any further reductions will be introduced; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47284/26]

940. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the measures she plans to introduce to address the issue of childcare in towns such as Kilcock; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38706/26]

466. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her Department plans on introducing additional flexible supports for parents returning to work after having a child; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35897/26]

996. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will provide a list of all capital projects, including early years, childcare and disability infrastructure projects, delivered under the remit of her Department, and bodies under its aegis, which have been completed on time and within budget in Kildare in each of the past five years, in tabular form; and if she will make a statem…

198. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the status of and the timelines for when the first State-led childcare services will be introduced; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29112/26]

208. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the supports she plans to introduce to support those who want to open new childcare services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29113/26]

2328. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether the recently revised assessment of need framework limits or reduces access to cognitive assessment for children, including in cases where intellectual disability is not suspected; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23521/26]

2329. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the way in which the revised framework ensures that children with uneven developmental profiles, including those who may be gifted or twice exceptional (i.e. children with both high ability and additional needs such as autism, ADHD, or dyslexia), will be appropriately identified within the system; and if she will make a statement on the…

2330. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether her Department has conducted an impact assessment on the way in which the revised model may affect the identification of children whose needs are masked by high cognitive ability or compensatory functioning; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23523/26]

2331. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the safeguards in place to prevent under-identification of such children, particularly in light of evidence that twice-exceptional children are already under-recognised within Irish education and disability services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23524/26]

2332. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether her Department will clarify if access to cognitive or psychological assessment remains available where there is evidence of significant intra-individual discrepancy, asynchronous development, or unexplained underachievement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23525/26]

2333. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether consideration has been given to the potential for increased reliance on private assessments arising from any restriction in public access to cognitive assessment; and the implications this may have for equity of access; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23526/26]

2334. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the training or guidance being provided to assessment officers and multidisciplinary teams to ensure that complex presentations, including masking and twice-exceptionality, are recognised under the revised model; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23527/26]

2335. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will confirm whether her Department intends to review the implementation of the revised assessment of need framework to ensure that no cohort of children is excluded from identification due to the streamlining of assessment processes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23528/26]

2513. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the work that has been carried out to help families who have an adult child with Down syndrome who live at home with their parents and who have multiple care needs (details supplied) [25639/26]

2515. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her Department can confirm that, where it can be demonstrated that a childcare provider was unable to access, complete or accept a core funding agreement due to failures within the hive system, errors in provider data or the absence of effective support structures, the provider will be deemed to have met the requirements of the schem…

410. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her Department has been made aware of the situation with a childcare provider (detail supplied) and their lapse in payment of core funding; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23207/26]

1604. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the steps being taking to alleviate parents in Kilcock who are struggling to locate childcare and afterschool services, given the acute shortages for these facilities in the area; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20203/26]