394. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her attention has been drawn to concerns related to the lack of flexibility under Section 8.2/8.3.2 of the national childcare scheme, specifically for children that are neurodiverse and benefit particularly from afterschool activities; and her views the current scheme acts as a disincentive for families to include their children in spo…
Topics / Childcare Services
A subject heading for parliamentary questionsChildcare Services
1,438 questions from 125 TDs, between 22 January 2025 and 22 October 2026.
1,438
questions
1,397 written, 41 oral
125
TDs have asked
11
parties and groups
Independents counted together
8
departments asked
Questions per month
The record holds no questions for August, when the Dáil does not sit.
Jan 2025Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions |
|---|---|
| January 2025 | 11 |
| February 2025 | 62 |
| March 2025 | 43 |
| April 2025 | 71 |
| May 2025 | 35 |
| June 2025 | 70 |
| July 2025 | 93 |
| August 2025 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 87 |
| October 2025 | 41 |
| November 2025 | 155 |
| December 2025 | 74 |
| January 2026 | 71 |
| February 2026 | 76 |
| March 2026 | 55 |
| April 2026 | 78 |
| May 2026 | 107 |
| June 2026 | 144 |
| July 2026 | 64 |
| August 2026 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 38 |
| October 2026 | 63 |
Who asks, by party
The party each TD belonged to on the day, in alphabetical order. Parties differ a lot in size, and members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them, so this shows who raised it, not how much a party cares about it.
The TDs who asked most
Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them. Each question counts once.
-
130
-
88
-
70
-
69
-
47
-
40
-
36
-
33
Asked of
Debated under the same heading
Debates whose official heading is exactly these words.
The questions
395. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will permit the extension of a sponsored claim through the national childcare scheme to August 2027, which is due to expire on the 13 December 2026 for a child (details supplied). [75148/26]
153. Deputy Naoise Ó Muirí asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether any steps are being considered to prevent childcare providers from primarily offering the more expensive band F places under the national childcare scheme. [74560/26]
154. Deputy Naoise Ó Muirí asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of families who avail of core funding, by band, in tabular form. [74559/26]
156. Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if consideration is being given to extending the revised childcare fee cap, or introducing alternative cost-reduction measures, for families using childcare services operating within Band F (50+ hours per week); if she is aware of concerns that many childcare providers in areas such as Lucan operate exclusively within Band F an…
157. Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will clarify whether the €550 monthly childcare fee cap announced in Budget 2027 applies solely to childcare services operating within Band E (40-49.9 hours per week) under the core funding scheme; and if she will provide details of the number of childcare providers operating within Bands E and F, respectively. [74685/26…
161. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of children currently on a waiting list for a crèche place in north Kildare; and the plans in place to address this issue. [74712/26]
162. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the plans in place to address crèche facility deficits in Kill and in north Kildare more broadly. [74711/26]
167. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the assessments that were undertaken to deduce that the €550 a month band would have the greatest impact overall on childcare costs for families. [74863/26]
169. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the protections that will be put in place for parents who have no choice but to pay for longer contracted hours than the €550 a month childcare cap. [74856/26]
170. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of families who will actually pay €550 per month as part of the cap on childcare fees from 2027; and the percentage of families currently using full-time childcare this would represent. [74855/26]
171. Deputy Daniel Ennis asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the percentage of providers participating in the core funding scheme in Dublin. [74716/26]
805. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the way in which she intends to deliver €200 per month childcare via core funding when this excludes parents whose provider are not in core funding; and if Government commitment to €200 per month is only for some parents. [73229/26]
806. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of parents who will benefit from the reduction of childcare fees from €735 to €550 per month. [73228/26]
809. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her Department, or Pobal, will engage with a school-age childcare service in County Clare (details supplied) regarding capital support to transition from a prefab into a modern modular facility that incorporates new preschool places to meet growing local demand; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [73596/26]
810. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her Department will review the eligibility criteria for the building blocks capital scheme to accommodate independent, school-age childcare providers operating out of leased school prefabs who are not currently enrolled in the Core Funding scheme but provide an essential service to prevent rural school depopulation; and if she will m…
811. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the estimated percentage and number of parents currently availing of early learning and childcare services who will not benefit from the recently announced €550 monthly childcare fee cap, particularly families whose existing fees exceed this amount due to accessing more than 40 hours of childcare per week and those required to pay …
814. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality in relation to her recent announcement concerning State-led early childhood provision, when a facility (details supplied) in Tallaght will be ready to take children for preschool care. [73677/26]
815. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the precise participation rate of early learning and childcare services for the 2026-2027 Core Funding programme year; the number of early learning and childcare services that withdrew from Core Funding ahead of the current programme year; and the number of early learning and childcare services that joined Core Funding for the current p…
816. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of childcare providers that have withdrawn from core funding in each county, in each month of this year; if the reasons for withdrawal, as supplied to the local county/city childcare committee, are collated and published by her Department; and if so, if she will supply the reasons supplied for withdrawal, in tabular form. [737…
817. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the estimated number of children attending creches operating outside of core funding. [73796/26]
818. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the process and criteria for selecting not-for-profit operators of facilities developed under the State-led early learning and childcare capital programme; whether selection will be conducted through open competitive procurement or another process; and the eligibility requirements for prospective operators. [73804/26]
819. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the way in which the fee structures will operate in the sites earmarked for the State-led childcare programme. [73800/26]
820. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality for an update on the seven sites earmarked for the State-led childcare programme; and when she envisions these units being fully operational. [73799/26]
821. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality for an update on the independent evaluation of the national childcare scheme. [73798/26]