Parliamentary questions

642. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will consider piloting an extended paternity leave scheme or phased increase in entitlements, in line with international developments and domestic demand; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53645/26]

643. Deputy Tom Brabazon asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of WTE psychologist posts, by grade filled, at Clontarf CDNT as of 30 June 2026, in tabular form. [52638/26]

644. Deputy Tom Brabazon asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of WTE qualified social workers that joined TUSLA in 2024, 2025 and to-date in 2026; and the number of qualified social workers that left TUSLA during same period, in tabular form. [52639/26]

645. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the estimated cost in 2027 if the budget for TUSLA increased by 12.5%. [52655/26]

646. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her Department has considered the introduction of a national transition framework for young people with intellectual disabilities on reaching adulthood, including structured planning for residential and support needs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52673/26]

647. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the level of capital funding allocated in each of the past five years, and planned for the coming three years, to support the delivery of small-scale community-based housing for persons with intellectual disabilities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52674/26]

648. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if a formal cross departmental structure is in place between her Department, the Department of Health and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to support the delivery of residential placements for persons with intellectual disabilities; if so, the timelines or targets in place; and if she will m…

649. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the data that is collected and published annually in relation to unmet need for residential placements for persons with intellectual disabilities, including waiting lists and new placements delivered; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52676/26]

650. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether any review of the Assisted Decision Making Capacity legislation and the policy on congregated settings is currently underway, particularly in relation to the impact on families seeking appropriate residential placements for persons with intellectual disabilities; and if she will make a statement on the matt…

651. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she has considered extending statutory paternity leave from two weeks to eight weeks; whether her Department has undertaken any assessment of the social, economic and equality impacts of such an extension; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52679/26]

652. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality for an update on her Department’s efforts to enshrine discrimination on the basis of socio-economic status as a non-discrimination ground, as outlined in the general scheme of the Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024; if both the assessment of the potential costs for the Exchequer and the enhanced SME te…

653. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 892 of 4 February 2026, if she considers it acceptable that this child must wait 8 to 12 months for an assessment for autism; the actions she is taking to deal with the waiting lists; the indicative timeline for the reduction of the waiting time; the number of children in each…

654. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 693 of 30 June 2026, if she is satisfied that Tusla is adequately resourced and capable of dealing with 106,000 referrals each year; the way in which she assesses this capability; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52789/26]

655. Deputy Ryan O'Meara asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if an interim physiotherapy service is being provided or is planned in Cashel CDNT, whilst the current physiotherapist is on leave; if not, the reason an interim service has not been established given the physiotherapist has been on leave since January 2026; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52812/26]

656. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her Department has itself sought confirmation from Tusla as to whether any of any specific gaps are in fact recorded on the Corporate Risk Register, as distinct from restating who bears responsibility for maintaining that register. [52828/26]

657. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her Department Oversight Agreement with Tusla provides any mechanism by which her Department is made aware of the contents of the Corporate Risk Register; or whether her Department has no visibility of it whatsoever. [52829/26]

658. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality given that three separate and substantively different governance gaps have now been put to her Department and met with the same non-substantive reply, whether she accepts that her Department is currently unable to state whether any of these matters are being treated as risks by Tusla at all. [52830/26]

659. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 439 of 2 July 2026, in which it was stated that reports from the two commissioned studies on the educational, career and life outcomes of care leavers "will be finalised and published shortly," and that planning is "underway" for a national longitudinal study following young peopl…

660. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if there is a specific policy within her Department that seeks to preclude those elected to local authorities from any boards that she may appoint; the rationale behind any such policy; the way in which it aligns with encouraging participation in local government; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [528…

661. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to commit to preparing legislation to not automatically exclude members of local authorities from consideration for appointment to State boards; and to set out the reasons such persons would be excluded. [52866/26]

662. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality further to Parliamentary Questions Nos.1606 and 1614 of 9 June 2026, (details supplied), to confirm whether a defined threshold or escalation trigger exists for repeated placement breakdowns, and, if so, the threshold; whether the 328 figure, or equivalent data on repeat placements, is reported through any national go…

663. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the total number of individual child protection and welfare referrals received by Tusla, regarding school employees, broken down by primary school and post-primary school, for each of the years 2023, 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026. [53033/26]

664. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of individual child protection and welfare referrals received that were classified as mandated reports; and the number classified as non-mandated referrals. [53034/26]

665. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number and percentage of individual child protection and welfare referrals received determined by Tusla at screening stage to not meet the threshold. [53035/26]

666. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of unique children the individual child protection and welfare referrals received relate to, broken down by primary school and post-primary school. [53036/26]