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speaking on Thursday. I welcome the legislation but while the Minister is here, I remind her of the commitment given to provide childcare, which is far from being delivered. It is true to say that this State lets children down. The poverty figures prove this. The number … stage of a child's life. It can be seen right through from childbirth. The much vaunted and long promised €200 per week childcare vanished like snow off a ditch the minute the election posters were taken down. I fear, as the Government has stopped talking about

raising this issue. I acknowledge her work as a vocal advocate for parents and providers and for getting this whole area of childcare right. I think that with all that went on in the world, perhaps it did not get as much attention this week as it merited … took a very significant step forward this week with the capital investment for public facilities in relation to childcare and I thank the Minister, Deputy Foley, for that too. The issue the Deputy has raised is an important issue because ECCE has been transformational

only a right to request it. That is not good enough. By removing the strain of long commutes, the pressure of securing affordable childcare, and the expectation of constant physical presence in the workplace, flexible working has eased daily pressures for thousands of families. While these benefits apply … have no control over but that directly affect their livelihoods. Granting that right would ease pressure on our transport system, reduce congestion, support childcare arrangements and improve quality of life for workers across my constituency of Dublin Fingal West

Taoiseach promised affordable childcare and he has not delivered it. He failed to produce the childcare places that are necessary and I would like to know what he is going to do about this in the here

Childcare, Taoiseach. Childcare places

That is a view that I hold and I know that will be held by many farmers and people beyond that. On the childcare issue, the Government is not serious about providing the right number of places. There are 50,000 children now waiting for a place … next number of years. That is a joke and a bad one. The Taoiseach has made no reference to his promise of €200 childcare. He has obviously ditched that but he does not have the integrity to just state it plainly. He wants people to wait years more

point. This week, the Minister, Deputy Foley, took a very important step forward in publishing the first instalment of the action plan on childcare. That has a number of areas on which she is endeavouring to move including on the issue of staffing and pay but also … Deputy made the point that one size does not fit all. There is not a one-size-fits-all model in relation to childcare. The parent has to have choice – that is really important – but even in a country as geographically small as Ireland there can be regional

case for themselves. That is not their own experience. They are dealing with what I might term broken promises on reducing childcare costs. We will see what the Government publishes tomorrow in its childcare plan. People spend endless hours in cars driving from a home that is some

have to respect the people who live in it and pay their taxes in it. We have a lot of discussions regarding childcare and many families are in dire straits. What frustrates me is what people are genuinely saying when I meet them. They say they have … when people honestly admit they have two good incomes coming into the home but they still cannot survive. There is something seriously wrong. Childcare costs are astronomical and are out of control. We have sat by idly in here and allowed that to happen. There is talk about

compared with what parents were paying last year. The Government promised that within 100 days it would produce a plan to reduce childcare fees to €200 per month. The 100 days are long gone and there is still no plan and no reduction in childcare fees

coming days, a number of further capital plan announcements in relation to health and disability and, today, in relation to childcare. There is a very significant amount in public capital funding for State-led public childcare. This is something I talked about a lot in the election

Government. The programme for Government commits for the first time to providing capital investment to build and purchase State-owned early learning and childcare facilities to create additional capacity in areas where unmet needs exist. State ownership of facilities is a substantial and significant development and offers … increased to €795 million over the next five years. This increased funding will be used in part to provide additional early learning and childcare places through future capital programmes, including potentially operating a further scheme similar to building blocks to support the expansion of provision by existing operators

increased spending. They have seen today, with the publication of the national development plan and revised plans for transport. Tomorrow, in regard to childcare, which the Deputies regularly raise with me, I look forward to seeing very significant capital investment in State-led childcare funding, and more disability

Government and Heritage to provide an update on his Department's efforts to fulfil the programme for Government commitment to review the 2001 Childcare Facilities Guidelines for Planning Authorities to ensure childcare spaces are provided and put into use; and if he will make a statement

seek an update on the Department's efforts to fulfil the commitment in the programme for Government to review the Childcare Facilities Guidelines for Planning Authorities, which date from 2001, to ensure childcare spaces are provided and put into

again thank Deputy Currie for raising the important matter of childcare facilities. I agree that it is timely and in accordance with the programme for Government that we update the planning guidelines. As I said, we will work with the Department of children. Ultimately, it is the Department … government. As I said, we stand willing and ready to give technical advice on what is necessary for those statements. Those relating to childcare facilities need to be updated. Having empty facilities is totally unacceptable. There is no question that there have been too many instances where developers

rents, students paying higher fees, people in their 20s and 30s with no hope of buying a home, and young families squeezed by childcare costs. It is the Government's failures that push them to leave this country in their droves. Any Government that fails its young people … Action is needed to cut energy prices, to reduce grocery bills, to actually build affordable houses, to bring down rents and to reduce childcare costs. This is action that can be taken right here, right now today. We in Sinn Féin will fight for that action every step

such as Cavan-Monaghan have no choice but to use their cars to get work, do their grocery shopping and bring children to childcare or after-school activities. There is no alternative to using the car, but it is getting more and more expensive … What did the average worker or family receive in return? A kick in the teeth. Nothing out of that went towards them. Housing, childcare, energy and grocery costs are putting people under pressure and rising all the time, while the Government sits on its hands and its members

review as part of the transition period. That will commence in 2026. Supports are available to childminders from the city and county childcare committees. Each city and county childcare committee has been funded by the Department to ensure that it has a childminding development officer

transition period. Work on this communications strategy has begun. Childminders are a hugely important part of early learning and care and school-age childcare provision. They continue to be an option of choice, which is important, for many families. I am firmly behind the regulation of childminding services … proportionate for childminding in Ireland. As I said, I have met with representatives of Childminding Ireland in both the early learning and childcare stakeholder forum and the providers forum. I am determined that I will meet with them on a one-to-one basis before the review

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

most infuriating experiences parents desperate to get a childcare place for their kid have is to be told the building designated as a creche on the plans they bought their new home from actually is not going to be a creche. They are told it has been … Minister has said, the planning guidelines were put in place in 2001 to ensure when developers built a certain number of units, a childcare facility building was put in place but those guidelines are not fit for purpose any more. They are not providing the right number

could identify them myself in various areas, where these specific buildings, which were committed to be early learning and childcare facilities have either had a price placed on them that is far beyond what anybody could pay or the design of the building, on occasion, sometimes … even appropriate. It is there in name as an early learning and childcare facility but in reality, the manner in which it has been built is not appropriate for that. Capital investment, which the Deputy referenced, may be required to fit it out. Oftentimes, the developer may choose

first instance. I have always been of the view that where you have housing, you need to have early learning and childcare facilities. You need to have schools. You need to have, as the Deputy said, community developed around it. There are too many stumbling blocks … been made far too easy for people to renege on early learning and childcare provision. Honestly, the date and time is not within my gift and the Deputies will appreciate that. That is a matter for the Minister for housing but I have engaged with him and will

also the fastest growing. Balbriggan is the youngest large town in the country and yet, we have a serious lack of childcare places. In January 2024, a supply management unit was set up in the Minister's Department. It was later renamed the forward planning unit yet nearly … Minister please tell us when we will see some output, if Fingal is going to be prioritised and when we can see more childcare places delivered

Disability and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 974 of 12 May 2026, the engagement there has been with the management of a childcare centre (details supplied) in relation to increased prices for parents to accommodate their own increase in running costs; and if she will make

Children, Disability and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 555 of 27 May 2025, the estimated average cost, per month, of full-day childcare, broken down by county, and the average cost nationally, for the most recently available time period, in tabular form. [40675/26

Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the measures she plans to introduce to address the issue of childcare in towns such as Kilcock; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38706/26

Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the position regarding the number of childcare centres that have withdrawn from the core funding scheme since it was established, broken down by year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38885/26

Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the position regarding the number of childcare centres that have withdrawn from the core funding scheme since it was established, broken down by county; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38886/26

Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her attention has been drawn to the withdrawal of a childcare facility from the core funding model (details supplied); the actions she will take to support parents with the knock-on price increase

asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the position regarding the engagement that her Department has had with the management of a childcare facility (details supplied) prior to their withdrawal from the core funding model; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38888/26

Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality her views on whether the core funding model is suitable for childcare centres based in Dublin and other areas where rent is significantly higher; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38890/26

Children, Disability and Equality the position regarding any review of the core funding model to allow for significant discrepancies in operation costs for childcare centres based in Dublin and other areas where rent is significantly higher; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38891/26

children in early years who are sponsored to raise the sponsorship amount to ensure it meets the actual cost associated with a childcare place to ensure that providers are not left covering the difference and ensuring that children who are sponsored can access a place at the same

Children, Disability and Equality whether she is satisfied that Tusla's financial systems permitted consistent like-for-like tracking of private residential childcare expenditure prior to 2024. [39854/26

Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether any external review has been undertaken into Tusla's historical financial categorisation systems for private residential childcare expenditure. [39855/26

Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether a standardised national reporting framework now exists for expenditure on private residential childcare placements. [39856/26

asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether Tusla has identified risks arising from inconsistent historical expenditure categorisation relating to private residential childcare services. [39857/26

Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether Tusla records expenditure on private residential childcare placements on a provider-by-provider basis internally, notwithstanding the format used in published annual financial statements. [39862/26

Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether she will provide the ten private residential childcare placement providers that received the highest level of Tusla expenditure in 2024, together with the total amount paid to each provider. [39863/26

Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the total amount spent by Tusla on private residential childcare placements in each of the past ten years. [39864/26

Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the percentage increase in Tusla expenditure on private residential childcare placements between 2020 and 2025. [39865/26

Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether Tusla applies national pricing ceilings, benchmark rates, or value-for-money assessments when procuring private residential childcare placements. [39866/26

Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether Tusla conducts comparative cost analysis between State-operated and privately operated residential childcare placements. [39867/26

Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether Tusla records average weekly costs per child by private residential childcare provider. [39868/26

Children, Disability and Equality whether Tusla has identified any risks associated with market concentration or dependency on a small number of private residential childcare providers. [39869/26

Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether Tusla publishes or intends to publish a central register of private residential childcare providers receiving public funding, including annual payments received. [39870/26

Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the supports available to childcare providers in County Kerry experiencing staffing shortages; the measures being taken to improve recruitment and retention in the sector; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39953/26

Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the measures being taken to support parents unable to return to work due to a lack of childcare places; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39954/26