Parliamentary questions

96. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to consider whether Laois will be given one of the first directly State-led, publicly-owned childcare facilities she announced on 21 January 2026 as Laois is one of the fastest growing counties in terms of population; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13846/26]

97. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the steps being taken to ensure that disability supports adequately meet the needs of people with disabilities, including access to services and timely assessments, and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3476/26]

98. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she plans to phase out her Department's current and increasing reliance on private for-profit companies for the provision of disability services; if she will commit to multi-annual funding of State, not-for-profit providers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12931/26]

99. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she has engaged with the Minister for Social Protection on providing a State pension for foster carers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13216/26]

100. Deputy John Clendennen asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality for an update on staffing levels and vacancy rates across the children’s disability network teams; how these are affecting service access for children; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13292/26]

101. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the measures being taken to address issues with employer costs of auto-enrolment for section 56 organisation employees; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13075/26]

102. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of children on the waiting list for an assessment of need in counties Cavan and Monaghan, by county; and the number waiting more than three, six and 12 months. [13202/26]

103. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the proposals her Department has to deal with the fact that Tusla has advised that 300 social workers,100 social care workers and 500 foster carers are needed now to cope with demand; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13212/26]

104. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of special care beds that are open currently; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13218/26]

105. Deputy Louis O'Hara asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if equine therapy facilities will be developed at the HSE’s Toghermore campus in Tuam, County Galway; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3670/26]

106. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she plans to increase supports available to assist with ageing parents of adult children with intellectual disabilities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13272/26]

107. Deputy Naoise Ó Cearúil asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality how the new €135 million programme of State-led early learning and childcare services will support increased capacity and improved access for families in Kildare North, particularly in areas experiencing sustained demand; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13255/26]

108. Deputy Louis O'Hara asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality her Department's efforts to improve accessibility in rural towns and villages for people with disabilities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12186/26]

109. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality for an update on the timeline and process for her Department's commitment to ratifying the second optional protocol of the UNCRC; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13302/26]

110. Deputy James O'Connor asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the efforts her Department is making to address the shortage of childcare places in Cork east. [13389/26]

111. Deputy Paula Butterly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will consider establishing a cross-Border assessment-of-needs scheme, similar to the existing cross-Border dental and surgical treatment schemes, to allow patients particularly children to access timely assessments outside the State; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3419/26]

112. Deputy Peter Roche asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the formal policy or operational frameworks which currently exist, or are planned, to align the needs-based assessment model used by children’s disability network teams with the diagnosis-based access criteria used by the education system; whether her Department has assessed, or plans to assess, the impact of this mis…

113. Deputy Keira Keogh asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of respite hours provided to families in Mayo in the past year; the measures her Department is taking to provide additional capacity, in view of the increasing waiting lists for these services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13284/26]

114. Deputy Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will prioritise Irish-medium services in the development of State-led early years facilities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12771/26]

115. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality for an update on CDNT waiting lists for assessments and therapies in County Meath; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11689/26]

116. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if a provider withdraws from core funding, if they can remain in other schemes, such as the national childcare scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13074/26]

117. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality for an update on her efforts to extend the NCS for childminding in the childminder's home and childminding in the family home; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13315/26]

118. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will provide an update on the programme for Government commitment to extend the national childcare scheme to childminders in the family home; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13322/26]

119. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the current number of adults with an intellectual disability awaiting residential placement, per health region, and for a categorisation of wait times in years and months. [12930/26]

120. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the engagement her Department has had with the Office of the Attorney General regarding the ratification of the Second Optional Protocol of the UNCRC; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13303/26]