Parliamentary questions

2288. Deputy Tom Brabazon asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether the national childcare scheme is being reviewed to better support lower and middle income families who struggle with the cost of childcare. [41165/25]

2289. Deputy Tom Brabazon asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the interdepartmental work being done with the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment to support flexible childcare arrangements for working parents. [41166/25]

2290. Deputy Pat Buckley asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality when the Equality and Family Leave (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill will be presented for debate in the Oireachtas; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41173/25]

2291. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the status of an application (details supplied) for a community centre to join the family resource centre; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41181/25]

2292. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will increase funding for the waiting list initiative to clear the waiting list and backlog for the assessment of need process; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41188/25]

2293. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality regarding the 96,666 child protection and welfare referrals received by Tusla in 2024, the number that were subsequently assessed as unfounded or not requiring further action; and the number of these that were repeat or multiple referrals relating to the same child. [41197/25]

2294. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will provide, for each calendar year from 2020 to 2024 inclusive, and for the period January to June 2025, the number of children who were returned by Tusla to the care of their birth parents after spending time in State care. [41198/25]

2295. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her attention has been drawn to a matter raised by this Deputy during Topical Issues in the Dáil chamber on Thursday 10 July 2025, and if she will commit to establishing an independent review of the case in question. [41200/25]

2296. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will allocate €10 million to establish local, publicly run early childhood, education and care services, beginning with areas and communities that are currently not served and experiencing high concentrations of disadvantage; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41202/25]

2297. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her attention has been drawn to cases whereby childcare centres that have no refund policies regarding deposits and upfront fees, regardless of the level of notice provided, when the child will not be taking up a place in their location; if this is permitted under their core funding contract; and if she will make a…

2298. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the level of respite services available in Cavan and Monaghan for children and for adults; the further proposals to extend the range of such services in 2025 and 2026; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41231/25]

2299. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality when the Health Assisted Human Reproduction Act 2024 will commence; if maternity leave entitlement will be included for people going through the journey of surrogacy within the private and public employment sector; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41299/25]

2300. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to review correspondence (details supplied); to outline the supports available on rents for a family resource centre; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41307/25]

2301. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the timeframe for a review of a case by Tusla (details supplied). [41326/25]

2302. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will undertake a review of the restriction on using first cousin DNA to link with the DNA of babies exhumed from the Tuam mother and baby home site; if she has considered whether there might be recent developments in scientific evidence which would enhance reliability of DNA linking; and if she will make…

2303. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of children referred for an autism spectrum disorder assessment to a CNDT (details supplied) team through either the children's services disability form or through the assessment of need process in each of the years 2022 to 2024 and to date in 2025, in tabular form. [41334/25]

2304. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of children formally assessed by clinicians in a CDNT unit (details supplied) in each of the years 2023 to 2024 and to date in 2025, in tabular form; and if an autism spectrum disorder using ASD specific assessment tool were used such as the ADOS 2 and ADI R tools or equivalent. [41335/25]

2305. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of private ASD assessments did a CDNT unit commission and pay for in each of the years 2023 to 2024, and to date in 2025; and the number of these commissioned private ASD assessments were multidisciplinary in nature i.e. more than one clinician involved in assessment, in tabular form. [41336/25]

2306. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality when the €200 monthly subsidy for families with children attending early years and school age care, as committed to in the Programme for Government, will be implemented in full; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41364/25]

2307. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she is aware that Kerry has an early years staff turnover rate of 25%, above the national average; and the measures she intends to take to improve staff retention in the sector in rural counties like Kerry. [41365/25]

2308. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will consider aligning the pay and working conditions of early years and school age care graduates with those of primary school teachers; and if so, the timelines and mechanisms under review to achieve this. [41366/25]

2309. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the supports being provided to early childhood education providers in Kerry, to maintain a qualified and consistent workforce, in light of high turnover rates. [41367/25]

2310. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the role her Department has played in engaging with stakeholders (details supplied) in the lead-up to Budget 2026; and whether their recommendations on pay parity and staff retention are being considered. [41368/25]

2311. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if his Department has costed the proposal to align pay for early years and school age care professionals with that of primary school teachers; and if so, the estimated annual cost of same. [41369/25]

2312. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if additional resources will be allocated in Budget 2026 to support the staffing and sustainability of early years education services in rural counties such as Kerry. [41370/25]