Questions

702. Deputy Catherine Ardagh asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the plans in place to expand the respite workforce, including SNAs, care assistants, and respite nurses, in 2026; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56860/25]

703. Deputy Catherine Ardagh asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will introduce a national recruitment and retention strategy specific to respite and community support services for children with disabilities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56861/25]

704. Deputy Catherine Ardagh asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the in-home supports which are currently funded for children with high support needs; if these can be expanded as an interim measure while respite services are oversubscribed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56862/25]

705. Deputy Catherine Ardagh asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if CDNT teams have discretion to approve in-home respite on compassionate grounds; the frequency with which this has occurred in the past 12 months; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56863/25]

706. Deputy Catherine Ardagh asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will publish quarterly updates on the number of children receiving respite; the number waiting, by CHO; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56864/25]

707. Deputy Catherine Ardagh asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the oversight mechanisms which exist to ensure that HSE disability managers are delivering on national respite targets; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56865/25]

708. Deputy Catherine Ardagh asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if an audit of children's respite provision has been undertaken since 2022; and, if so, to publish its findings; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56866/25]

709. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she is aware that, 100 years after the foundation of the State, there is still no statutory provision for childcare services through the medium of Irish, outside of the Gaeltacht; if she accepts that this represents a significant gap in the State's commitment to the Irish language; and the steps she intends to take to ensure that …

710. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the guidelines and procedures in place for the vetting of individuals working or volunteering in sectors that provide services to children; and if an individual may continue to work or volunteer in such a capacity while their vetting application is being processed and not yet completed. [56871/25]

711. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will address the issue of NCS funding being reduced for parents who have to collect their children early from creche; if she is considering changes to NCS funding that will allow more flexibility for parents in such a position; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [57020/25]

712. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality for an update on a report (details supplied) on the end-to-end processes linked to publicly funded early learning and childcare schemes/programmes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [57021/25]

713. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to give a detailed progress report in regard to the urgent provision of respite and additional disability services adjacent to a school (details supplied); if she will outline the progress the working group has made in this regard; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [57092/25]

714. Deputy Eoin Hayes asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality her views on extending paid parental leave to those who become parents through surrogacy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [57101/25]

715. Deputy Eoin Hayes asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the details of the vacant buildings owned by her Department or by agencies under the remit of her Department in Dublin 2, 4, 6, and 6W, including, the address and size in square meters; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [57104/25]

716. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to provide a list of vacancies in CDNTs in County Offaly. [57216/25]

717. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to provide details of the factors that are taken into consideration in determining if the determination of disability is correct or, if it will conclude that it is not and, perhaps, recommend further assessment be carried out when a complaint is lodged under Section 14(1)(a) of the Disability Act 2005 and a clinical opinion as to the …

718. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the details of all reports, including consultancy reports commissioned by her Department from 1 January 2024 to date in 2025, that could be categorised as not for external publication or marked for internal use only; the cost of each report; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [57284/25]

719. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her Department will provide a child (details supplied) with an urgent assessment of needs given the family has been waiting for multiple years. [57312/25]

314. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to address concerns in relation to the need for parental leave entitlements to be extended in the case of multiple births in the same pregnancy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56395/25]

315. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the nature of refurbishment works that were carried out at Oberstown detention campus in 2024 and to date in 2025; and if each capital works project have been completed, in tabular form. [56070/25]

316. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if all vacancies within CDNTs in CHO7 in 2024 and to date in 2025 due to maternity leave have been backfilled; and if not, the vacancies which remained unfilled, in tabular form. [56071/25]

317. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will examine the feasibility of introducing a national scheme, similar to the mobility scheme in the United Kingdom, that would allow parents or carers of children with complex medical needs to utilise a payment such as the domiciliary care allowance towards the cost of obtaining a wheelchair-accessible or disability-adapted ve…

318. Deputy Joe Cooney asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the plans her Department has to progressively reduce the cost of early learning and childcare to €200 per month per child during the lifetime of the Government; the proposed timeline for the roll-out of this plan; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56098/25]

319. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality of the additional 35,000 children anticipated to be supported in 2026 by the national childcare scheme, the portion which results from changes to our population size and demographic composition; the portion which results from new measures in Budget 2026 to shrink the number of children on waiting lists; the associated financial estima…

320. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the first and full-year cost, in terms of additional core funding required, to deliver on the €295 per week maximum fee cap for childcare that was introduced by Government; and if a separate funding stream that is not core funding is being employed to specify same. [56110/25]