502. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if ECCE/early years childcare and education services that are 100% State funded and effectively not operating for profit are liable for commercial rates; if so, if her Department will provide or subsidise commercial rates for ECCE services; if not, if the services are legally permitted to pass these costs onto parents through increased…
Topics / Early Childhood Care and Education
A subject heading for parliamentary questionsEarly Childhood Care and Education
521 questions from 96 TDs, between 22 January 2025 and 22 October 2026.
521
questions
506 written, 15 oral
96
TDs have asked
11
parties and groups
Independents counted together
9
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 | 2 |
| February 2025 | 20 |
| March 2025 | 23 |
| April 2025 | 21 |
| May 2025 | 24 |
| June 2025 | 7 |
| July 2025 | 37 |
| August 2025 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 32 |
| October 2025 | 27 |
| November 2025 | 46 |
| December 2025 | 26 |
| January 2026 | 37 |
| February 2026 | 52 |
| March 2026 | 27 |
| April 2026 | 60 |
| May 2026 | 26 |
| June 2026 | 23 |
| July 2026 | 11 |
| August 2026 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 12 |
| October 2026 | 8 |
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.
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57
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33
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28
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22
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20
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19
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17
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15
Asked of
Debated under the same heading
Debates whose official heading is exactly these words.
The questions
131. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she or her Department will advise on an ECCE placement being withdrawn (details supplied). [2613/26]
1893. Deputy Tom Brabazon asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality when the allocation of funding to support a pay deal for early years educators and managers will be announced; when representative bodies for this sector will receive notification of same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [74233/25]
1906. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her Department will recommend the inclusion of the early years sector on the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, critical skills list to address the immediate staffing, retention and recruitment pressures across the early years sector; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [74372/25]
1907. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the reason little or no consultation with large full-time early years providers took place during the process of formulating phase one of the early years action plan, with just one large provider of only part-time services on the new childcare forum; her views on whether this lack of adequate consultation may have negatively impacted…
1914. Deputy Cathy Bennett asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she acknowledges that core funding provided to the early learning sector will not cover auto enrolment in the pension scheme from January 2026; if this additional cost will be included in core funding for the early learning sector; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [74433/25]
11. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the steps her Department is taking to address the ongoing lack of affordable early learning and childcare places, particularly for working families; whether she has assessed the impact of rising childcare costs on parents’ ability to remain in employment, including in areas such as Dublin Bay North; and if she will make a statement on …
17. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality her Departments plans to expand and strengthen childcare provision in east Galway, including measures to increase capacity, support new providers, and address shortages of affordable early learning and care places for families across the region; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [73187/25]
85. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the plans to increase public funding for early learning and care and school-age care to bring it up to the same level as other countries in the EU. [73264/25]
88. Deputy John Connolly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality for an update on the implementation of a programme of acquisition and fit-out of State-led early learning and childcare services, as proposed in the programme for Government and budget 2026; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [72982/25]
595. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to outline progress on the programme for Government commitment to expand arts programming in early childhood education. [73332/25]
283. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the options for funding, specifically for the purchase of premises for the provision of early learning and childcare services; the application procedures; the dates for application processes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [70568/25]
397. Deputy John Paul O'Shea asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of early intervention Early Intervention classes in place across the country from 2020–2025; to provide a breakdown of classes operational by county during this period; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [69303/25]
413. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Education and Youth if early intervention classes are being re-classified as primary autism classes in order to reduce the numbers of students looking for primary school places across the State; and if so, the measures that are being implemented to ensure that children who require access to an early intervention class are not left behind. [69744/25]
416. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of early intervention classes across the State broken down by county, for each of the years 2020 to 2024 and to date in 2025. [69747/25]
799. Deputy Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality is she will review the core funding scheme’s funding model to ensure sustainability for long-established services, to guarantee that families are not priced out of accessing childcare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [69783/25]
800. Deputy Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of providers that have withdrawn from core funding each year since it was introduced; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [69788/25]
803. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she is aware of a situation in Newbridge, County Kildare (details supplied) where local providers are withdrawing from Core Funding; the way in which she plans to address the lack of affordable childcare places in Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [70031/25]
804. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of childcare providers that have withdrawn from Core Funding in the past four years in County Kildare, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [70032/25]
814. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of services that have exited Core Funding since its introduction, by year and county. [70294/25]
815. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will clarify whether her officials track the fee levels charged by services after they exit Core Funding; and the average % scale of fee increases. [70295/25]
816. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality her views on whether the current exit rules give adequate protection to families from sudden fee shocks; and if changes are being considered. [70296/25]
817. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the analysis which has been done on the impact of the current model on long established services compared with new services. [70297/25]
818. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will clarify the basis for requirement of ECCE deductions to be spread over 10 months rather than 12 months; and the impact this has on monthly costs for parents. [70298/25]
819. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the supports available to families when a service exits Core Funding and imposes major fee increases. [70299/25]