Parliamentary questions

1554. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the amount of Exchequer funding provided to Pobal in 2025 for early years and childcare programmes; if any part of this allocation may be affected by the current industrial dispute; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [59364/25]

1555. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the timeline for the reopening of the building blocks capital grant scheme; if the eligibility criteria will remain the same, or be widened in the next round; if her Department has a strategy to encourage the establishment and expansion of community-based childcare services in areas of high demand where property and…

1556. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the timeline for the publication of the action plan to build an affordable, high-quality and accessible early childhood education and care system, as referenced in recent replies to parliamentary questions; if the action plan will include a specific focus on childcare infrastructure and the development of State-led …

1557. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the status of State property under the remit of her Department (details supplied), in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [59422/25]

1558. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of assessments of need completed by each children's disability network team, by area, in each of the years 2020 to 2025, in tabular form. [59435/25]

1559. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the average waiting times for assessments of need completed by each children's disability network team, by area, in each of the years 2020 to 2025, in tabular form. [59436/25]

1560. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the length of time, by monthly intervals for the completion of an assessment of need by each children's disability network team, by area, in each of the years 2020 to 2025, in tabular form. [59437/25]

1561. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the proportion of those waiting longer than the statutory maximum for an assessment of need, by area and the length of time waiting, in each of the years 2020 to 2025, in tabular form. [59438/25]

1562. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to provide an update on a building blocks extension grant (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [59484/25]

1563. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of residential places for people with a disability currently being provided as of 1 October 2025 or latest date available, by CHO area, in tabular form. [59485/25]

1564. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of new emergency places provided to persons with a disability as of 1 October 2025 or latest date available, by local health office area, in tabular form. [59486/25]

1565. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of children currently on a waiting list with the NCSE for an assessment of needs; the number of children on a waiting list from 2019 to 2025, in tabular form; the average time children spend on a waiting list; the plans to lower the number of children on a waiting list; and if she will make a statement on the …

1566. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of children on waiting lists for an assessment of need, by area, in each of the years 2020 to 2025; the number overdue for completion, broken down by length of time waiting; the proportion that are waiting beyond that statutory maximum; the number completed with a service statement, in tabular form; and if she…

1567. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the percentage of early years and SAC services that have signed up to the current core funding scheme 2025-2026; and the way in which that percentage relates to previous years. [59495/25]

1568. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality in relation to services that have chosen not to participate in core funding if any work is being carried out to collate the reasons these services have chosen not to sign up to core funding; if not, if she will consider collating this data to ascertain that the reason services have not signed up to core funding is…

1569. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the status of the proposed core funding evaluation; the terms of reference for the evaluation; and the time period that evaluation covers. [59497/25]

1570. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the status of the NCS review and the terms of reference for that review; and her views on same. [59498/25]

1571. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will consider, in line with recommendation 7 of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth report on challenges facing the ECEC sector (March 2024), unification of the existing funding schemes. [59499/25]

1572. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether consideration has been given to reviewing the entire funding system as a whole, inclusive of the following annually accessible funding streams: ECCE, NCS, LINC, AIM, Core Funding and Graduate Uplift; if she will consider a whole-picture review instead of the current pattern of reviewing each scheme separat…

1573. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if any changes to the ECCE scheme are to be expected, in line with the recommendations of the independent review of the ECCE programme in Ireland (April 2024), the enhancement of daily hours or improved ratios for younger children; and her views in relation to same. [59501/25]

1574. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of services participating in schemes (details supplied); and the percentage of the entire sector that number correlates to, in tabular form. [59502/25]

1575. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the financial breakdown of the core funding in relation to the amount of funding out of €390 million core funding that is intended for pay and graduates, in tabular form. [59503/25]

1576. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the breakdown of the way and where the new €125 million received by her Department in Budget 2026 will be spent; and if the funding has been ring-fenced for pay, in tabular form. [59504/25]

1577. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the estimated cost of the October 2025 early years pay increase through the ERO process; the estimated cost of the June 2024 early years pay increase through the ERO process; and the estimated cost of the September 2022 early years pay. [59505/25]

1578. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the estimated cost following the October 2025 increase of increasing the early years educators and managers wages by 1%, 5% and 10%, in tabular form. [59506/25]