Parliamentary questions

749. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of children currently awaiting first appointment by CDNT; and the waiting time in Cork. [66232/25]

750. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the reason the recognition of parents who must avail of surrogacy is treated differently when it comes to maternity or adoptive leave; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [66279/25]

751. Deputy Joe Cooney asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of childminders who have registered in County Clare to the end of October 2025; the number of people in County Clare who have completed the Children First E-Learning Programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65136/25]

752. Deputy Ann Graves asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to ensure that children in afterschool care receive AIMs support; and to consider granting funding to afterschool programmes that require special needs assistants for the children that would avail of SNAs in their mainstream school environment. [65196/25]

753. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to provide all claims managed by the State Claims Agency for which her Department is liable for the years 2020 to 2025, including the number of claims, the category of claim, the total cost per category, the number of active claims, the number of settled claims and the median payout per category. [65240/25]

754. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to explain the drivers of the increase in State Claims Agency billing to her Department from approximately €250,000 in 2021 to over €2 million in 2025 (details supplied); and the risk factors, service failures, or litigation trends that account for this escalation. [65241/25]

755. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether her Department receives claim-level reports from the State Claims Agency detailing the category, cause, and cost of claims for which it is liable; and if so, whether she will publish anonymised versions of these reports to allow transparency on the risks driving expenditure. [65242/25]

756. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether her Department conducts root-cause analysis on claims that give rise to State Claims Agency costs; to identify if they stem from preventable failures for example, health and safety, service provision, accommodation standards, or administrative errors; and the actions taken as a result. [65244/25]

757. Deputy Tom Brabazon asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the vacancy staff rate for Children's Disability Network Teams based in CHO9 as of 30 September 2025. [65271/25]

758. Deputy Tom Brabazon asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of student placements, by discipline that were offered for CDNTs within CHO9 in 2024 and to-date in 2025, in tabular form. [65272/25]

759. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the status of the establishment of the new board of the Adoption Authority of Ireland; the expected timeline for its appointment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65293/25]

760. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality her plans to address the childcare capacity shortage in Dungarvan, County Waterford given that a large number of children are missing out on early years education; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65373/25]

761. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the percentage of sponsored CHICK's across community creche setting versus private operators.; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65378/25]

762. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the total funding allocated to early learning and school age care from 2011 to 2025, by year; and the percentage of that yearly funding by modified GNI. [65379/25]

763. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the actions being taken by her Department to address shortfalls in child services identified by various working groups (details supplied). [65406/25]

764. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if access and inclusion model support will be reviewed and increased for a person (details supplied).; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65407/25]

765. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of WTE dietitians, by grade posts that were filled at north Tipperary children's disability network team in 2023, 2024 and to-date in 2025, in tabular form. [65456/25]

766. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality her plans to introduce a pay gap portal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65475/25]

767. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the way in which the invitation list for feedback on the pay gap portal was decided. [65476/25]

768. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if an organisation (details supplied) will be included in her Department's review of their draft gender pay gap portal. [65477/25]

769. Deputy John Connolly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will review the administrative requirements under the national childcare scheme regarding hourly attendance checks, in cases where creches operate on a fixed-rate billing model; if she will ensure families and providers are not penalised for discrepancies between claimed hours and actual attendance (details s…

770. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she is aware of concerns among Tusla staff in relation to changes being brought in from January 2026 which will see social care workers completing assessments on children, which only social workers are qualified to carry out, if she is aware of issues being raised with these changes; and if she will make a state…

771. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality when transitional respite arrangements will be put in place for a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65572/25]

772. Deputy Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will take steps to improve the working conditions of early years workers, recognising the valuable contribution they make to the lives of our youngest children and acknowledging the retention crisis facing the sector; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65868/25]

773. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of WTE social workers, by grade posts, that were filled at north Kildare CDNT in the years 2023, 2024 and to date in 2025, in tabular form. [65880/25]