The commission of investigation into certain matters relative to a disability service in the south east and related matters, or the Farrelly commission, is an independent statutory commission of investigation established in 2017 to investigate the care and protection of Grace, which, as we are all aware, is a pseudonym, and others in a former foster home in the south east, which has been the subject of abuse allegations. It is important to note that at the heart of the report is the story of Grace, the pseudonym chosen to protect the identity and privacy of the young woman who lived with the foster family. The final substantive report on the first phase of the Farrelly commission and the commission's statement concerning part X of its terms of reference was published on 15 April 2025. The commission’s statement on part X conclusions indicates that there is an absence of information in the possession of the commission identifying issues for further investigation with respect to the role or conduct of public authorities in respect of seven cases identified, akin to the type of concerns raised in respect of Grace, save for two cases where the role of public authorities has already been investigated and reported upon by the commission. On the treatment of protected disclosures by whistleblowers, the commission’s statement on part X does not identify further information that would point to the merits of embarking on further investigation into how the protected disclosures were treated or the treatment of those making protected disclosures. In that context and on the advice of the Attorney General, there is no basis for moving forward to a phase 2 of the commission of investigation. However, it is important to take every precaution to ensure the lessons from Grace’s case are applied. In that respect, I intend to undertake an expert-driven, non-statutory safeguarding exercise to identify learnings from the commission’s findings to inform present-day safeguarding policies and practices. My officials are actively seeking to identify an appropriate expert or experts in the field of safeguarding to carry out this exercise. The seven people referenced in the commission’s statement on part X and-or their representatives are being invited to participate in this exercise and share their lived experience, if they wish to do so.
Sentiment score: 0.51
I thank the Deputy. She is 100% right. There must be learnings from this. We are conscious this is the story of Grace and others. It is important to point out that since Grace's case first arose, there have been a number of steps forward in safeguarding. There was the development of the Ombudsman for Children's Office, the establishment of HIQA, the establishment of Tusla - Child and Family Agency, and the commencement of the Children First Act. It is important we do not stop there but remain constantly in the space of being proactive. In that respect, I am intent on ensuring there will be an expert-driven non-statutory safeguarding exercise that will identity the learnings from the commission's findings. We are already seeking an appropriate individual or individuals to conduct that work.
Sentiment score: 0.30
Safeguarding is everybody's responsibility and should be everybody's business. I am committed to working with the HSE and Tusla to ensure there is a focus on continually enhancing the approach to safeguarding across all services. We are conscious of the obligations on us as individuals, whether working in the field of education, sport or whatever. When we deal with young people, we are all mandated persons and there is a process that needs to be followed. There is a body of work under way on adult safeguarding, which has also been raised. The HSE has introduced a national policy on safeguarding vulnerable persons at risk of abuse and has established a national safeguarding office and safeguarding protection teams. For the first time, the HSE has appointed a chief social worker, which is an important step forward. An issue has been raised around developing a new policy in adult safeguarding. That is under way by the Department of Health and should be coming before us shortly.
Sentiment score: 0.14
Thanks very much, Deputy. I am aware the childcare search on the Hive website does not currently contain fees listed for services for the programme year 2021 to 2022. The portal was originally designed to contain information for the current programme year only. In addition to service fee lists, the following information is available on the portal: contact details for services; whether services are private, community or childminding services; a services calendar, which provides details of services' operating hours per week and the number of weeks operating per year; whether the service offers the early childhood care and education programme or the national childcare scheme; and whether it is taking part in the core funding scheme. The portal was recently upgraded to provide fee lists for the previous programme year, 2023 to 2024. There is no scope to provide historical fees lists on the portal in the short term owing to competing ICT demands. However, officials at the Department are working on an interim solution in order to make the 2021-22 fees list available through the city and county childcare committees. The list of services that have been approved to increase their fees through the fee increases assessment process will also be published. I anticipated the fee lists will be available through the network of childcare committees in the coming weeks. I know that is not what the Deputy asked for, but it is the mechanism available to us in the interim. In the meantime, parents can contact the parent support centre by phone or by completing a contact form on the website to ask about year-on-year comparison of fee lists for their individual early learning and childcare service. Parents can also contact their local city and county childcare committees. Childcare committees support parents and guardians to understand their early learning and childcare options and keep an updated directory of early learning and childcare services in their local areas. They can also provide information and support in relation to fees.
Sentiment score: 0.20
I acknowledge the manner in which the Deputy and his party leader have followed this through. What I can say is that the portal was recently upgraded and it now includes fee lists for the previous programme year of 2023 to 2024. There is an issue at present - there is no point in saying there is not - in terms of the capacity of the Hive website to go further back. To ameliorate that or make recompense, the officials are currently working to ensure that the 2021-22 fees list will be available. I am told it will be available in the coming weeks and that is the best commitment I can give. I am happy to revert to the Deputy and discuss this with him again in a few weeks if it is not made available to him. That is the situation as it stands. Enormous money has gone into the whole issue of childcare. Of that, there is no doubt. Just short of €1 billion has gone into core funding and there has been significant improvement. It is important that parents have access to information on what the fees were in 2021 to 2022. As I said, that will be available through the childcare committee.
Sentiment score: 0.17
The officials are working on the solution and the 2021-22 fees list will be made available through the county and city childcare committees. Also published will be the list of services that have been approved to increase their fees through the fee increase assessment process. It is the Department's best estimate currently that this will be available in the coming weeks. I am happy to engage with the Deputy. I know this is important information for parents. I know there is an absolute acknowledgement that considerable work has been achieved in this space. There has been significant money in core funding, with €331 million for this year alone, which will rise to €350 million. The purpose of core funding is to ensure reduced costs for parents but also that there is support for providers. That information should be available in the coming weeks.
Sentiment score: 0.36
The Deputy is correct. The Government has made a significant commitment to improve accessibility, availability, affordability and the quality of early learning and childcare provision. Investment in early learning and childcare is now at an unprecedented level with public funding exceeding €1.37 billion in 2025, clearly demonstrating the Government’s commitment to this area. The programme for Government provides the impetus to go much further and to deliver much more high-quality early learning and childcare places at a cost that is affordable to families. I am committed to establishing a €200 per child per month cap on early learning and childcare costs for families within the lifetime of the Government. This work will build on the significant measures taken to date to improve affordability. The early childhood care and education programme provides two years of preschool without charge and enjoys a participation rate of 96% each year. The national childcare scheme is now worth a minimum of €96.20 per child per week for 45 hours. This Government is also committed to providing capital investment to build or purchase State-owned early learning and childcare facilities to create additional capacity in areas where unmet need exists. This would mark a very substantial and significant shift in the policy direction that the Department has pursued thus far. A forward-planning model is now in development which will be central to the Department's plans to achieve the policy goals to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early learning and childcare system, with State-led facilities adding capacity. Officials are currently developing a mapping tool, using administrative data on schemes and population location, to identify areas where supply and demand mismatches are greatest. A recent Ipsos poll to parents will also help inform future planning. This will enable the State to step in where it is necessary. As the Deputy will appreciate, we are at the very early stages of the programme for Government but work is under way.
Sentiment score: 0.32
I agree with much of what the Deputy said. It is much of Government policy insofar as the key elements of that policy are, in the first instance, to manage and reduce costs for parents, which is a key anchor, and, second, to ensure sustainability of the service is being provided and that providers are sustainable in moving forward. A further element is to increase provision of places and to ensure we have a workforce that is properly recompensed for the work it does in this area. On affordability for parents, and I referenced this, significant core funding of almost €1 billion by the Government has gone into ensuring that money is in place to ensure reduced costs for parents. In addition, the national childcare scheme has undergone a number of enhancements, which include the extension of the universal subsidy to all children under 15. There have been two increases to the minimum-----
Sentiment score: 0.35
I will be clear. I am very happy to engage with the Deputy on this. I engage on an ongoing basis with stakeholders on whatever body of work needs to be done. He is right. We are unanimous in our acknowledgement across every sector within this Chamber that a job of work needs to be done and must continue to be done in this sector. However, while significant progress has been made, more progress needs to be made. Specifically, for example, and the Deputy referenced this, we must ensure workers in this area are appropriately remunerated. A sum of €45 million has been ring-fenced for that purpose this year to ensure that providers can continue and €350 million will be made available to them through core funding in the next tranche of funding. Equally, where there are gaps, it is appropriate that the Government steps in and makes provision for places being made available, whether these are State-run or whatever way they will be run. A forward-planning model is already up and running in the Department and there is a budgetary consideration around the €200 per month.
Sentiment score: 0.30
As the State is not the employer of staff in this sector, neither I nor the Department can set pay or determine working conditions. The joint labour committee is the formal mechanism established by which employer and employee representatives can negotiate minimum pay rates, which are set down in employment regulation orders. I absolutely acknowledge the joint labour committee is independent in its functions and I do not have a role in its statutory negotiation process. However, outcomes from the joint labour committee process are supported by Government through core funding, which in the programme year 2025-26 will increase to €350 million. An additional €45 million, as the Deputy referenced, has been ring-fenced to support employers to meet the costs of further increases to the minimum rates of pay and is contingent on updated employment regulation orders. Core funding forms part of a significant State investment of €1.37 billion in funding under budget 2025 for early learning and childcare. I recently met with joint labour committee representatives to acknowledge the committee's important role, to outline the Government’s continued support for the sector as a whole and, as outlined in the programme for Government, for the joint labour committee process. I outlined to representatives that Government expects the funding secured - the €45 million - will support the costs of increased minimum pay rates and will be used for the purpose for which it is given in any new employment regulation orders, and that the full amount will be utilised. Data available to the Department shows previous employment regulation orders do not absorb the available core funding signalled for staff pay and graduate leaders. The level of pay for staff in the sector does not reflect the value of their work for children, families, society and the economy. Therefore, it is vitally important that the committee engages in productive negotiations about ensuring the high level of investment being made through core funding for improved pay is maximised. I look forward to the joint labour committee negotiated outcomes.
Sentiment score: 0.21
I acknowledge this is a personal interest of Deputy Kerrane because she has raised it on many occasions. It is my absolute determination that €45 million is being made available and it is my absolute wish that that €45 million is used fully, totally and wholly for the purpose for which it is given. I would always say, irrespective of whether I am inside the House or outside, that if we do not have a workforce and if they do not feel that they are appropriately remunerated and valued, they will go elsewhere. It is really important. That is obviously to the benefit of providers who are providing the service, it is to the benefit of parents but, most of all, it is to the benefit of the children who are in their care. I am clear about that €45 million and how I would like to see it being utilised. I am equally clear that providers need resourcing. As I have said, €350 million in core funding is being made available this year. Work is also under way in terms of minimising the administrative burden that providers speak about. There is a body of work under way.
Sentiment score: 0.33
I want to be clear that I absolutely respect the independence of the joint labour committee. It is important it would do its work and that it would have that independence, but I am acknowledging there is that €45 million available and it is my view it should go for the purpose of salaries. The Deputy referenced the previous EROs and what occurred there. I acknowledge that the setting of minimum rates of pay in the previous two EROs was not a product of the joint labour committee negotiation process but as a consequence of the Labour Court setting the rate, and the Labour Court does not have to take into account the money that is made available to support the sector. While we are focusing here on salaries, there is a broader piece of work being done on the entire service.
Sentiment score: 0.27
I thank the Deputy and I appreciate the question. The Deputy has engaged with me on an ongoing basis on this. As I have stated previously, the State is not the employer of staff in the sector and neither I nor the Department can set their pay or determine working conditions. The joint labour committee is the formal mechanism established by which employer and employee representatives can negotiate minimum pay rates set down in employment regulation orders. As I have said previously, I acknowledge that the joint labour committee is wholly independent in its functions and I do not have a role in its statutory negotiation process. Outcomes from the joint labour committee process are supported by Government through core funding, which will increase to €350 million in the programme year 2025-26. As the Deputy has referenced, an additional €45 million has been ring-fenced to support employers to meet the costs of further increases to the minimum rates of pay and is contingent on updated employment regulation orders. As I have already said, I met recently with joint labour committee representatives to acknowledge the committee's important role and work and to outline the Government’s continued support for the sector as a whole and for the entire joint labour committee process, as outlined in the programme for Government. As I have reiterated, I outlined to representatives that the Government expects that the funding secured to support the costs of increased minimum pay rates to be used for its intended purpose - that is the absolute clarity: the money is ring-fenced and it should be used for the intended purpose - and that any new employment regulation orders would utilise the amount in its entirety. Data available to the Department shows previous employment regulation orders have not absorbed the available core funding signalled for staff pay and graduate leaders. The level of pay for staff in the sector does not reflect the value of the work being done by the employees for children, families, society and the economy. It is hugely important, therefore, that the committee engage in productive negotiations to ensure the high level of investment being made through core funding for improved pay is maximised. I look forward to the outcome of the joint labour committee.
Sentiment score: 0.27
I absolutely agree with the Deputy. It is to everyone's benefit, most especially the children, that we have suitably remunerated and qualified staff. That is the purpose of specifically ring-fencing the funding this year. As I have already said, it is my absolute desire that it would be used in full for that purpose. I also acknowledge that there is significant work under way to support those who might wish to enhance their qualifications through the nurture skills programme, where opportunities are being given for 90% of the costs to be covered for those who might wish to move forward towards a level 7 or level 8 qualification. That is being piloted, there has been a great uptake on it and we look forward to another successful year of it this year. I also acknowledge, specifically in terms of retention, that the early learning and childcare stakeholder forum now has a subgroup on recruitment and retention looking at a variety of issues, chief among them, of course, the issue of pay, but also other issues that would provide supports right across the sector.
Sentiment score: 0.50
I agree with the Deputy; I believe there is unanimity here regarding the €45 million and how it should be spent in full. If the joint labour committee is unable to agree on a new employment regulation order for the start of the 2025-26 year, the ring-fenced €45 million will not be made available at the start of the year either. That is the purpose of it. I am hopeful and it is my wish that everything will be done in advance of the 2025-26 year. Obviously, it is a win-win situation for everyone if the children are being cared for by those who are suitably recompensed and have the qualifications that are required. It is looking after the children, the parents and the providers. Every year since core funding was introduced, we have seen an increase in the number of those who are in this market now. We are also in a process, as I mentioned earlier, where there is a lack of availability. A body of work is being done there to allow the State to step in where necessary.
Sentiment score: 0.24