Childcare Services

1709. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will review the core funding rules which require a six-month break in service where a new childcare provider seeks to introduce a different fee structure, in circumstances where a premises has transferred ownership; to consider introducing flexibility to prevent a gap in service provision, as is currently fac…

1710. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her Department will engage directly with Fingal County Childcare Committee and the providers involved in the learn to grow facility in Lusk, County Dublin to examine options to avoid the projected six-month gap in childcare provision due to the application of Core Funding rules; and if she will make a statement o…

1711. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her Department has assessed childcare capacity in Lusk, County Dublin, in light of the planned closure of the learn to grow service at the end of July 2026; the measures being put in place to ensure sufficient alternative provision for the more than 50 families affected; and if she will make a statement on the ma…

1712. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if consideration has been given to allowing continuity of childcare provision in an existing premises where ownership transfers between providers, without requiring a break in service, in order to protect continuity for children and families; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43888/26]

1713. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality how frequently the requirement for a break in service under Core Funding rules has resulted in delayed openings of childcare services nationally; if a review of this requirement is planned; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43889/26]

1714. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the supports or flexibilities available to new childcare providers who have purchased an existing facility but are unable to open due to Core Funding restrictions; if these rules are being kept under review; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43890/26]

1716. Deputy Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she is aware of a childcare provider in Kildare making large operational changes affecting location and pricing structure only after families had signed onto the service (details supplied); if recourse mechanisms exist for families in this situation; if her Department has any powers to intervene in this…

1729. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will consider matters raised in correspondence (details supplied) in relation to core funding; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44119/26]

504. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of childcare places currently available in County Kerry, broken down by childcare setting and age category; the number of children currently on waiting lists for childcare places in the county; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41340/26]

505. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she is aware of the cancellation of summer childcare provision for children due to commence primary school in September 2026 (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41342/26]

506. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if consideration is being given to the establishment of a targeted summer childcare support scheme for working families during school holiday periods, particularly for children transitioning from preschool to primary school; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41343/26]

179. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, 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 their planned withdrawal from core funding; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40435/26]

180. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the mechanisms in place to allow for price increases by childcare centres that are within the core funding model; if there is a maximum increase allowable within the contract; the way in which that is calculated; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40436/26]

181. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the position regarding flexibility within the core funding model for a childcare centre (details supplied) to increase their pricing in the context of significant running cost increases; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40437/26]

182. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, 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 a statement on the matter. [40438/26]

188. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for 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]

940. 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]

950. 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]

951. 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]

952. 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; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38887/26]

953. Deputy Barry Ward 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]

958. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the current part-time, sessional, or school-age childcare providers and full-day childcare, both community and private, in Dublin, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39005/26]

994. Deputy Paula Butterly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will address concerns that many experienced childminders may leave the sector due to the requirement from September 2027, for home based childminders to register in order for families to access the national childcare scheme; and the measures she will take to prevent a loss of childcare capacity. [39638/26]

1005. Deputy Ken O'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]

1012. 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]