551. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of occasions since 1 January 2020 on which substantiated governance or safeguarding failures in publicly funded early years services have been escalated to her Department at senior official level; the categories of concern involved; and whether any resulted in policy review, regulatory amendment, contractual revision, or fundi…
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
552. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to set out the formal governance interface between her Department and Tusla in respect of oversight of early years services, including whether a structured compliance reporting template exists, whether trend analysis is conducted centrally, and whether aggregated safeguarding data informs policy development or funding decisions. [14832/2…
258. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of early years spaces currently provided in the Dublin 7 and Dublin 3 areas; the steps being taken to increase childcare places in these postal codes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13412/26]
667. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of early intervention classes in special schools, by county in each of the years 2017 to 2026, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12401/26]
1031. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she has received any update from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage regarding Tailte Éireann sending commercial rates bills to pre-schools operating under the ECCE scheme; whether this is now the standard for all ECCE pre-schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12439/26]
1038. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the position regarding any grant funding available that an organisation (details supplied) could apply for to support the provision of free Montessori facilities in their community space; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12726/26]
279. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of children currently on a waiting list in County Kildare for early learning and childcare places; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11031/26]
934. Deputy Marie Sherlock asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if any of the State’s acquisition of buildings intended for the purpose of developing early year facilities will be located in Dublin’s north city. [9508/26]
935. Deputy Marie Sherlock asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the criteria for the State’s purchase of buildings for the purposes of developing early year facilities. [9509/26]
944. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will provide an update on Action 44 of Nurturing Skills to examine development of a range of entry routes into the early years sector, including apprenticeships or other work-based learning, and access programmes in FE and HE; the correspondence she has had with the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovat…
348. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether, under plans for State-led early years services, areas with need not being met will be identified and will be limited to those areas where there are willing existing operators; whether areas with need without a willing existing operator will be excluded given this will impact areas with need most; and if she will make a statem…
907. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if the process for registering as an early years provider will be streamlined to allow for faster registration; and if those going through the registration process with Tusla will be granted some leeway to remain operational while they register (details supplied). [7742/26]
912. Deputy Cathy Bennett asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the breakdown of which counties the Shaping the Future: Early Years Action Plan is planned for, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7878/26]
913. Deputy Cathy Bennett asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if counties Cavan and Monaghan have been considered for the Shaping the Future: Early Years Action Plan; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7879/26]
917. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the level of funding which the early years services are receiving (details supplied). [8034/26]
918. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to conduct a review of the ECCE eligibility cut-off dates, with a view to eliminating the unfair disadvantage faced by children born in early January. [8037/26]
919. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to consider a rolling or more flexible entry system of the ECCE scheme, rather than a rigid annual cut-off that fails to reflect children’s developmental needs and increase the enrolment windows into the scheme. [8038/26]
920. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to mediate interim measures to support families who are currently excluded by a matter of days for eligibility of ECCE including the option of early entry where appropriate. [8039/26]
930. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if a fee increase will be permitted for a creche (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8519/26]
389. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will give consideration to reviewing the current Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme eligibility requirements that exclude children born in early January (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7078/26]
395. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of childcare providers that have signed up to the core funding scheme in Dublin, broken down by month for 2024 and 2025, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7224/26]
396. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of childcare providers in Dublin that have withdrawn from or declined to participate in the core funding scheme since its introduction, broken down by year, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7225/26]
167. Deputy Joanna Byrne asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of early learning and childcare providers in County Louth signed up to Government core funding scheme in each of the years 2021 to 2025 respectively. [6680/26]
168. Deputy Joanna Byrne asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of early learning and childcare providers in County Louth which withdrew from the Government's core funding scheme in each of the years 2021 to 2025 respectively. [6681/26]
169. Deputy Joanna Byrne asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of early learning and childcare providers in County Louth which are currently signed up to the Government core funding scheme. [6682/26]