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life through a sense of community, justice, belonging and welfare. However, it is because of this that I raise the issue of childcare. Many of the women I am dealing with are thinking about and are, unfortunately, being forced to give up their careers due to the lack … cost of childcare, not only in Kildare but right throughout the State. The lack of childcare in places like Kildare town, Newbridge and Kilcullen is having a profound impact on women and their families. In a recent survey I carried out, 81% of parents in Kilcullen said that

further inform that remediation approach. More broadly the Department has provided €225.65 million in capital funding for Donegal schools since 2020. On childcare which the Deputy has raised with me in the House before, as it relates to mica, Letterkenny Community Childcare was approved for a building blocks … criteria did not allow that application to progress. I was told very recently that it is now through the County Donegal childcare committee in contact about the State-led childcare programme. Perhaps that could be a way of making an intervention. TDs and Senators in Donegal work

half the population and the implementation of this strategy should be the work of every single Department. Second, we need to recognise that childcare should not just be a mechanism for getting women into the workforce but instead recognise that it is absolutely key to unlocking women … social, cultural, economic and political life. I was pleased, as Minister, to be able to take steps to drive down the cost of childcare while I was in government. This Government needs to go further and focus on care as a form of work in our economic model

gains at all. For many women it is not getting easier but harder. Families are facing enormous pressures due to the cost of childcare, the availability of it, the cost of staying at home and the cost of returning to work. Parents find themselves performing constant solution-gymnastics … especially in the first year of a child’s life as they try to make childcare, employment and family finances work. We have to make the system evolve with the times to keep up with gender equality and make it work for families. The motherhood penalty remains very

trying to continue to provide the service she was already providing. Since I was elected as a TD, I have met lots of childcare providers in my constituency who have had to make this difficult decision to exit core funding. They do not want to tell parents that … they are going to have to increase their fees, and obviously the Government is trying to reduce the cost of childcare for parents. My question is on the level of engagement the Department can have with providers that do exit. From responses to parliamentary questions, I know

eliminating gender-based bullying in education settings and ensuring that learning environments actively promote gender equality. Access to high-quality early learning and childcare is a key part of this as it has a profound impact on a child's development, learning and social skills. Ireland has several … programmes in place to support children from all backgrounds in accessing early learning and childcare from an early age. For example, the early childhood care and education, ECCE, programme provides two years of free pre-school, with a participation rate of 96% every year. Over

women. Conditions like endometriosis remain under-diagnosed, under-treated and under-funded, leaving countless women in pain and struggling to live full lives. Childcare remains unaffordable for far too many families, contributing to gender gaps in economic outcomes. We must see progress from the Government on its promise … introduce a €200 cap on childcare costs. We must guarantee fair pay, safe communities that are free from violence, inclusive services and full representation for women in every decision-making space. I cannot speak about International Women’s Day without mentioning our sisters in Palestine. Tá mná

women earning less per hour, but far too many of them are forced to work fewer hours because of a lack of childcare or the burden of having to care for older people. This is an issue we talk far too little about. We talk a great deal … about childcare - my colleague Deputy Wall will talk about that in a moment - but many women holding down jobs are also caring for older relatives. Almost 30% of women in this country work part-time hours, some by choice but many out of necessity. That has a real

likely to have to take unpaid leave, move to part-time employment or leave the labour market due to a lack of affordable childcare. Focus Ireland recently found that 57% of homeless families in this country were one-parent families. Even though I would say we have moved … vulnerable by default, but there are fixes that would help all of society and also help single parents disproportionately. A public model of childcare, social and affordable housing, collective bargaining and stronger workers' rights would all help single parents more than they would help other parts

were moving to sustainable, permanent reductions in core areas; the permanent reduction in college fees, the permanent progress we want to make on childcare and making targeted interventions here as well

There is no childcare

correct but we are coming to the end of that, followed by half pay for a further three months. People have their childcare bills, their mortgages and the costs of just existing in this cost-of-living crisis. They have a lifestyle based on their pay and will

diagnosis. People are not just dealing with their illness; they are also dealing with the travel costs, car-parking charges, time off work, childcare and bills. In my own constituency, the operator of the Mater Hospital car park charges €15 a day. That is an outrageous cost

care of the State are all of our responsibility. Everybody plays a role in child protection and child welfare, from childcare settings to our schools and the workplace. It is not just Tusla. We all have a responsibility. The Department and the Minister need to step up, particularly

living crisis. The price of groceries are up, rents are up, bills are up, insurance is up, college fees are up and childcare is up. This is the reality that so many people face day in, day out throughout the State. After doing nothing to end this

should be done now. I want to also make reference to early years educators, without whom we would not have a childcare sector. They continue to be in a situation where it is up to the JLC whether they will get a few cent here

Dublin, UCD, who was allegedly raped, drugged and photographed. The photographs and vile abuse about her circulated throughout the school. The area of childcare needs to be addressed. Working-class women in particular face financial hardship and issues around access to help so there is still work

related legislative measure fully pass through these Houses. Where in the name of God is the delivery of the promised plan to deliver childcare capped at €200 per month within the first 100 days of Government. For International Women's Day this year, my message to the Government

will eventually be able to buy homes, have to heat those homes. They have to feed their children. They have to access childcare and education. On every one of those indicators, the cost of living is getting increasingly unbearable. We hear in our constituency clinics

especially those at risk of fuel poverty; - analysis undertaken by the Economic and Social Research Institute, using the Simulating Welfare, Income Tax, Childcare and Health (SWITCH) tax and benefit model, to simulate the impact of the carbon tax and the compensatory welfare package, estimates that the net impact

being here. He is well aware of the problems that have existed for a number of years. Somebody could work in a childcare facility and, at the same time, could be training juvenile athletes as well as being involved in a stage school involving young people. For each

Department is engaging with that organisation - we can say that somebody who is involved in a sporting organisation, who may be a childcare worker, primary schoolteacher or whatever else, would have one simple vetting mechanism. Is there going to be a tender for the technical system that

their budget accounted for. What they are now seeing is an avalanche of price rises coming towards them on everything from groceries and childcare costs to energy bills, and they get virtually no support from the Government. Instead, all the Government seems to do is introduce measures

Department is taking to ensure proper, safe facilities to secure an immediate return of these students to the school. Parents were left without childcare for their children today. They have waited almost 19 years for a permanent school building, and they were left with 24-hours notice about

this is an act of self-sabotage. Many of these graduates have made major financial commitments including mortgages, rents and childcare, all based on the expectation they would be given permanent jobs in their current location, not in another region across the country. Will the Tánaiste do more

Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her attention has been drawn a childcare provider (details supplied) which has recently announced its closure due to a significant rise in operational costs, staff retention and recruitment; if her Department has been in touch … with the childcare provider; the steps she will take to expand childcare provision in Dublin 5; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17995/26

Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the steps being taken to ensure all childcare providers participate in the childcare scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22533/26

Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the extent to which childcare policy is considered economic infrastructure within Government policy, including in the context of increasing women’s labour market participation; the data available to her Department on the impact of childcare availability

Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of units that have been flagged to her Department regarding the State-led capital childcare programme as potential childcare facilities, by county, in tabular form. [21528/26

Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the position regarding developments towards reaching the commitment to reducing childcare costs to €200 per child, per month, in the context of a number of childcare providers pulling out of the core funding scheme

Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the actions she is taking to reduce the cost of childcare in the short-term as the wider project of reaching the commitment of hitting childcare costs of €200 per child, per month, is progressing

Sullivan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will provide an update on an expression of interest from Cork City Childcare for a service in Glanmire under the state-led early learning and childcare services capital fund; and if she will make a statement

Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether, in the context of ongoing childcare reform work, her Department has produced estimates for the average parent which will pay for childcare per month and per year in the short to medium term; the way these

Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her Department has been made aware of the situation with a childcare provider (detail supplied) and their lapse in payment of core funding; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23207/26

Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of childcare places that have been available in Cork city and Cork county in each of the past five years, including, if possible, the first three months of 2026. [23510/26

Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of childcare services that have been open in Cork city and Cork county in each of the past five years including, if possible, the first three months of 2026. [23511/26

Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Education and Youth if there are any current or proposed plans for new childcare facilities, Naíonraí, Gaelscoileanna, or multi-denominational primary schools in the Ballyfermot, Dublin 10 area. [22552/26

Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the reason the National Childcare Service is not structured so that funding follows the child rather than being contingent on provider participation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22532/26

Children, Disability and Equality the supports that exist for families who, through no fault of their own, are unable to access a national childcare service participating service. [22534/26

Deputy Louis O'Hara asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she is considering any measures to address the lack of childcare places available in towns and villages such as Portumna, County Galway; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22914/26

Gaeltacht the timeline for the introduction of an annual social enterprise empowerment and development allocation to support sustainable job creation, affordable childcare provision and community-based services, including disability supports, as outlined in the Programme for Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13204/26

role he intends the child maintenance calculator to play in judicial decision-making; if he plans for future iterations to include education, childcare, medical and disability related costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22201/26

asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of expressions of interest received by her Department regarding the State-led capital childcare programme. [21527/26

asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the action her Department is taking to increase the number of staff working in the childcare sector. [21589/26

Deputy Aisling Dempsey asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on adding childcare staff to the critical skills list; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21590/26

Deputy Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the measures she is taking to increase the number of childcare places in Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21772/26

rural and oversubscribed areas; and if there is scope to reinstate the exemptions for families with no choice but to divide their childcare due to lack of availability. [21780/26

Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of childminders who are part of the national childcare scheme each year since 2023.; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21980/26

Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the actions she is taking to address the issue of childcare providers pulling out of the core funding scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21001/26

Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the actions she is taking at a national level to increase the provision of childcare centres; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21002/26