many people in this country who feel they play by the rules, do everything they possibly can, spend long times commuting, have childcare costs and the like and at the end of the month, they say "Is that it?" when they look at their payslip. We need
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In debates
discuss an update on the planned new Courtown Coast Guard building.
Deputy Barry Ward - To discuss support mechanisms for families when their childcare centre withdraws from the core funding model.
Deputy Colm Burke - To discuss the establishment of a national radiation therapy equipment replacement programme.
Deputy Tom Brabazon
around the country, but in particular those operating within my county of Wexford. The newest family resource centre is within Templeshannon Community and Childcare Centre, Enniscorthy, and is a most welcome addition to the east side of the town. Family resource centres are at the heart
MetroLink.
There will be greater opportunities to attract foreign direct investment and support our international competitiveness. There will be delivery of more childcare facilities and school places, investment in children’s disability services and better healthcare for all.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House
ensure that they and the patients are kept safe. That piece of legislation is vital. There are minimal staffing ratios in childcare and education, yet we do not have that within our hospitals, where nurses and other staff are providing a crucial service.
We also have to look
insurance costs - which are still stubbornly high despite all the breaks and concessions given to that industry - and the cost of childcare are all increasing. The list goes on. After all, the Minister must know that Ireland once had the lowest electricity prices
energy. With the summer coming, parents are asking whether they can afford summer camps, give their children a holiday or pay for childcare. That is how desperate people are. It is the Government's job to stop us having the highest energy prices in Europe
discuss increasing the mandatory retirement age for firefighters from 62 to 65.
Deputy Barry Ward - To discuss support mechanisms for families when their childcare centre pulls out of the core funding model.
Deputy Michael Cahill - To discuss measures to avert a proposed strike action within the ambulance services
rising by a further 6.5% for the basics in the first part of the year. There is no sign of the promised €200 childcare rate and there were shameful sham fights this week over college fees, rather than knuckling down and cutting costs for families
This afternoon, Government
palpable anger and frustration with the Government’s failure to deliver on its word. At the 2024 election, Fine Gael promised affordable childcare costing €200 per month. It quickly forgot that promise. Fine Gael promised to phase out third level fees. Does the Minister remember that? Instead, those
rates decisions are a matter for Tailte Éireann and the local authorities, yet she also acknowledges the critical importance of early learning and childcare for families and communities. The Minister met the Minister, Deputy Browne, and said they were seeking a resolution. The providers need clarity now, however
least afford delay.
It can create real difficulty for women - women who have travelled long distances, women arranging time off work or childcare, women in crisis or women living with coercive, controlling partners or domestic violence. For many women, having to return days later is not a small
brunt of the cost-of-living permacrisis. This is no longer a fleeting problem. We have the highest energy costs in the EU; childcare which is a veritable second mortgage; rising college costs which Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil would rather have a public fight over than sort
protests were not just about fuel costs. They were also about much more than that. They were about energy bills, renting, house prices, childcare fees, education costs and more. Fundamentally, the social contract has been torn up by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Previously, a decent salary
arrears. People are getting hit with unaffordable rents caused by really bad decisions on rental policy. We see higher mortgage payments, childcare fees, college fees and insurance prices. Inflation is higher than the Government projected on budget day.
Last week, waste management companies put an energy surcharge
that man, with everything that has happened since then – energy costs accelerating to the highest in Europe, punishing rental or interest rates, inaccessible childcare miles away that costs a second mortgage and the cost of goods and food, groceries and other everyday items surpassing the rate of wage
should never lose sight of that. We must strike that balance so that we can responsibly manage our public finances and invest in childcare, disability, education and infrastructure.
I understand the political game. It is back and forth and sometimes, we have to try to appease
lone parents and working people across the country are at breaking point. Where are the €200 a month fees that were promised for childcare? That was to be part of the cost-of-living package also
them about what the pay and conditions are. It is not just about the pay, there are also favourable tax incentives for them, childcare facilities, healthcare facilities and relocation grants. Lots of things go with these jobs. More importantly, these are immensely fulfilling jobs. They do important work
those services. If you keep spending billions now, you will not have the money for education, special education, childcare reductions and health services. You will not have the funding for all of that at the next budget or, indeed, for next year.
On what we have done
People who could never afford luxuries now cannot afford the basics. Everything they earn is swallowed up by skyrocketing rents, childcare fees, mortgage payments, and energy and grocery bills. As those people desperately tread water, this Government refuses to throw them a lifeline. Even when Eurostat tells
suffering too. Families across Ireland are under sustained pressure from rising energy bills, rising rents and mortgages, rising grocery costs and rising childcare costs. For many households, every week has become a struggle to just make it through. Increasingly people feel exhausted. Working families who do everything right
This is a rip-off Government. The price of petrol, diesel, home heating oil, electricity, groceries, rents, house prices and childcare are all sky-high. The Government plays a significant role in jacking up the prices on all of those. It is hitting families really hard. I know
have found themselves on far-flung shores. Unfortunately, some of our young people have had to leave because of issues with housing, childcare and all the other cost-of-living issues that unfortunately existed here long before the present cost-of-fuel crisis.
Deputy Crowe stated it quite
move:
That Dáil Éireann:
notes that:
— family law proceedings concerning child custody, access, guardianship and childcare matters, continue to be heard otherwise than in public under statutory provisions including, Section 27 of the Guardianship of Infants Act, 1964, and Section 29 of the Child Care
In parliamentary questions
Emer Currie
Written
Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of ECCE childcare services that have had their premises assessed for commercial rates in 2024, 2025 and 2026. [14251/26
Emer Currie
Written
Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of childminders who have completed the pre-registration course through the county and city childcare committees. [14211/26
Emer Currie
Written
Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of childminders who are part of the national childcare scheme, broken down by county. [14214/26
Eoin Ó Broin
Written
Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if it is correct for a childcare facility (details supplied) to charge €800 deposit; if this deposit can be recouped; if so, the way it can be recouped; and if she will make a statement
Claire Kerrane
Written
Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of children availing of the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) in total; the number of children availing of universal NCS subsidy scheme; the number of children availing of the income-based NCS subsidy scheme
Claire Kerrane
Written
Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the amount of current spending on the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) in total in 2024, 2025, and allocation for 2026; the amount of current spending on the universal NCS subsidy scheme in 2024, 2025, and allocation
Claire Kerrane
Written
spending that will be allocated in 2026 and the cost annually of the proposed increase of income thresholds regarding the income-based National Childcare Scheme (NCS) subsidy, as well as the estimated additional number of children that will be eligible for the income-based NCS subsidy under
Claire Kerrane
Written
Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the proposed universal rate under the National Childcare Scheme which will be introduced in September 2026, implied by her announcement of reductions in the highest fees charged to parents across the country from September 2026. [15055/26
Claire Kerrane
Oral
Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the reason she will determine legal representation for guardians ad litem in childcare court proceedings; the rationale for this change under the new service; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13521/26
Brian Stanley
Oral
Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to consider whether Laois will be given one of the first directly State-led, publicly-owned childcare facilities she announced on 21 January 2026 as Laois is one of the fastest growing counties in terms of population; and if she will make
Naoise Ó Cearúil
Written
Naoise Ó Cearúil asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality how the new €135 million programme of State-led early learning and childcare services will support increased capacity and improved access for families in Kildare North, particularly in areas experiencing sustained demand; and if she will make
James O'Connor
Written
Deputy James O'Connor asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the efforts her Department is making to address the shortage of childcare places in Cork east. [13389/26
John Lahart
Written
Children, Disability and Equality if a provider withdraws from core funding, if they can remain in other schemes, such as the national childcare scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13074/26
James Geoghegan
Written
Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will provide an update on the programme for Government commitment to extend the national childcare scheme to childminders in the family home; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13322/26
Mark Wall
Written
Mark Wall asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the progress to date in identifying the locations of the eight pilot public childcare facilities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13270/26
Edward Timmins
Written
Deputy Edward Timmins asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to review the childcare funding models for setting of fee rates in Core Funding and the ECCE programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13371/26
Cathal Crowe
Written
Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will consider purchasing a building (details supplied) for the purposes of establishing a community childcare facility; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13329/26
Noel McCarthy
Written
Deputy Noel McCarthy asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the efforts being made to increase the provision of childcare services in Cork East; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13378/26
Mark Wall
Written
asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will provide an interim report on her Department’s research on a national childcare agency. [13269/26
Shane Moynihan
Written
when she expects premises and projects for investment to be identified as part of the move to State acquisition of buildings to provide childcare services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12390/26
Mairéad Farrell
Written
Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will provide an update on the provision of affordable childcare across Galway; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13317/26
Mark Wall
Written
Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the total amount of money spent to date by her Department on researching and developing a national childcare agency; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13268/26
Edward Timmins
Written
Timmins asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if a schedule has been set to reach the planned €200 per month maximum childcare cost as set out in the programme for Government; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13372/26
Maeve O'Connell
Written
Deputy Maeve O'Connell asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality for an update on the work of her Department in encouraging childcare providers to engage in core funding. [12770/26
Grace Boland
Written
Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the specific steps she is taking to deliver additional not for profit childcare places in the Balbriggan, Skerries, Rush and Lusk area; the capital and current funding streams available for this purpose in 2026; the projects currently
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