Investment in early learning and childcare is now at unprecedented levels with public funding exceeding €1.37 billion in 2025, clearly demonstrating the Government’s commitment to this area. As well as addressing affordability, this investment has served to improve accessibility, availability and the quality of provision. The new programme for Government provides the impetus now to go much further and to deliver more high-quality early learning and childcare places at a cost that is affordable to families. Under this Government, the recently established supply management unit in the Department will be resourced and transformed into a forward planning and delivery unit to identify areas of need and better forecast demand. Government is also committing this unit to introduce an element of public provision, as I referred to previously, with State-led facilities to add capacity in conjunction with capacity provided by private operators. As a key first step, the unit will work to identify the type and number of local places across the country and how that compares with the numbers of children in the corresponding age groups. A poll is nearing completion. It is being analysed and I hope to have awareness of that by the end of March or some time in April. Taking a more strategic approach to forward planning and the option of public delivery offers much greater scope to influence the type and amount of places available and to better align with families’ needs. This is a key concern for Government, that we are meeting the needs of parents. The scoping work being done to determine those needs will be very helpful in this respect. Record numbers are now benefiting from the national childcare scheme. A total of 220,000 children benefited from a subsidy under the scheme in 2024, with families using 45 hours receiving almost €100 per week. Fee controls, in place in almost 93% of services as a result of the core funding scheme, ensure the investment is not unnecessarily absorbed by fee increases. I am committed within the lifetime of the Government to continuing to improve affordability and reach the €200 per month target set. Further progress on affordability cannot be made in isolation, however, and must be integrated with our efforts to improve access, availability and quality.
Sentiment score: 0.32
As I said earlier, 178,000 children have claimed under the national childcare scheme this year. This is a 14% increase on last year. Year on year, we are seeing an increase in children availing of the national childcare scheme. We are also seeing an increase in availability. For the first time, childminders are now eligible to apply for the scheme. That is a further expansion of the scheme. The sustainability and management aspects of the scheme are hugely important. I acknowledge that the Deputy referred to the significant funding that has gone into it up to this point. A total of 92% of eligible services have signed up to core funding. This is more than 4,400 services availing of core funding. The Deputy is correct about the programme for Government initiative on the €200 cost. We have given that commitment that it will be over the lifetime of the Government, so it will be done over the next five years. There will be engagement across all areas of the sector. Those working on the ground and parents are hugely important to determine how we will proceed.
Sentiment score: 0.18
In my role as Minister, I will be engaging with all representative bodies regarding childcare provision. That is ongoing this week and will be for the next number of weeks. Their point of view and experiences will be very important to the general discussion we have on moving towards the €200 target that has been set. Equally important to that will be the voice of parents. That is already under way. It will be supported by the scoping exercise that is already under way and the forward planning unit that is now positioned within the Department. It will not be just one element that will inform how we will proceed. Rather, it will involve all stakeholders in the sector. They will be invited to share their thoughts and views on it and it will inform best practice on initiatives by the Department as we seek to achieve the €200 target, as outlined in the programme for Government.
Sentiment score: 0.22
Yes.
Sentiment score: 0.40
Chaos.
Sentiment score: -0.57
I apologise.
Sentiment score: 0.38
Specifically, so far this year, 3,569 children in Kilkenny are benefiting from a subsidy under the national childcare scheme. This represents an increase of almost 13% or 403 children in Kilkenny benefiting from this scheme when compared to the same period last year. This growth in national childcare scheme beneficiaries is mirrored nationwide, with the numbers of children benefiting from the scheme up more than 70% since 2022 and record numbers - 178,000 children - benefiting already this year. Among this cohort are the children in childminding settings who have come forward for registration following changes to the childminder Tusla registration requirements last September. Other recent enhancements to the scheme include the extension of the upper age eligibility for the universal subsidy from three years of age to 15 years of age in August of 2022 and the increases to the minimum hourly subsidy rate in January 2022 and September 2023. With 96% of all providers in Kilkenny participating in core funding and adhering to fee management conditions of that funding, including a fee freeze, the benefit of the national childcare scheme subsidies to parents in Kilkenny is being fully maximised. It is a considerable uptake of core funding in Kilkenny and as I said, it does allow for the maximum benefit of the scheme to be experienced by families. The increases in the national childcare scheme subsidy rates, along with fee controls and other reforms to the scheme, are delivering much greater affordability for parents. However, out-of-pocket costs for some families remain too high and I am conscious of that. The new programme for Government commits to progressively reduce the cost of early learning and childcare to €200 per child. Officials and I are examining this ambitious commitment and exploring approaches to most effectively achieve this objective over the lifetime of this Government.
Sentiment score: 0.30
I thank the Deputy very much. He referenced two key things in his presentation: accessibility and availability of places, and the cost for parents. We are very conscious of accessibility and availability. There are increases in terms of availability but by no means is there a sufficiency. That has been outlined by many Deputies in the House. The programme for Government also commits to the State intervening, where necessary, to provide State-led facilities and we will do that. An early scoping exercise is being done to provide for that. I have already referenced the poll of parents. Obviously, there is engagement with childcare providers. That will be a very important step forward to meet what the Deputy has referred to as the availability aspect of it. In terms of affordability for parents, there has been a substantial decrease in the cost for parents by the previous Government. Notwithstanding that, there is a huge body of work that remains to be done. We are committing to the €200 payment, and early scoping work is already being done in that regard.
Sentiment score: 0.10
I thank the Deputy for his contribution and the contribution of his children to our education system and our sports clubs, etc. I recognise - obviously, I say this sincerely - that the support that is necessary for families is hugely prioritised by the Government. I have already outlined what is being done in terms of availability or the very sustainability of childcare-providing services. To ensure we have a sustainable model, the core funding model has been introduced, with an investment of more than €900 million in the last three years, which is an unprecedented level of State intervention, to ensure that this sector cannot just survive but can do the job of work it intends to do, which is to provide care for children and alleviate issues for parents. There is a very strong body of work under way in my Department in terms of providing additional capacity, which I already referenced, and working towards the €200 target. There are many aspects involved in that and many aspects also involved in State-led provisions, whether it is employment, ownership of buildings or whatever the case might be. That work is commencing within the Department.
Sentiment score: 0.35
Question No. 122 was specifically around childcare facilities' ability to attract and retain staff.
Sentiment score: 0.14
I thank the Deputy. I acknowledge that many early learning and care and school-age childcare services report staffing challenges in relation to recruitment and retention. In general, these staffing pressures in the sector are caused not by insufficient supply of qualified personnel, but by high levels of staff turnover. The most recent published data from the annual early years sector profile survey shows staff turnover for the sector is at 24.5%, however it is estimated that approximately one third of staff leaving services are doing so to move to another service. Notwithstanding this, the data from that survey also shows that the workforce in the sector continues to grow, increasing by 8% over a 12-month period. Pay is one of a number of issues impacting these staffing levels. As the State is not the employer of staff in the sector, neither I nor my Department can set wage levels or determine working conditions. There is, however, a formal mechanism established in the independent early years services joint labour committee, where employer and employee representatives can negotiate terms and conditions of employment, including minimum pay rates for different roles in the sector. Outcomes from the joint labour committee process are supported by the Government through the core funding scheme. The allocation for the 2024-2025 year of core funding is €331 million. It is an unprecedented level of State intervention. In budget 2025, an additional €15 million was secured specifically to support employers meet the costs of further increases to the minimum rates of pay. This allocation, which is conditional on updated employment regulation orders being negotiated by the joint labour committee, translates into an additional €45 million for the programme year 2025-2026. That is specifically dedicated to pay in the sector.
Sentiment score: 0.14
I want to be very clear about State intervention here. At the outset, I want to acknowledge the excellent work of those who provide the voluntary services the Deputy referenced in his constituency and throughout the country. I wan to be very clear about State intervention here. Over the last three years, just short of €900 million has been provided through core funding by the State. It is unprecedented; it was never done before. It is an unparalleled resource of funding going into these services. This past year alone, it is at a level of €331 million, as I said. In addition to that, there are other interventions by the State, such as the building blocks extension programme, with €25 million available to providers where they can apply to provide for extensions or whatever. As I already referenced, a specific €45 million additional was provided to support employers meet the cost of wage increases. Again, it is an unprecedented intervention by the State. In total, into the sector the Deputy referenced, €1.37 billion is being invested, which was never before done by the State. It is quite staggering.
Sentiment score: 0.12
Ar an gcéad dul síos chun an fhírinne a rá, cé acu as Béarla nó as Gaeilge, ní féidir a shéanadh go bhfuil an-dul chun cinn déanta ag an Stát chun gach tacaíocht a thabhairt don earnáil seo. Tá na figiúirí agam arís. Lean ar aghaidh liom anois. The flat rate for services registered on the Tusla early years register of sessional only, which is a preschool service offering a programme for a total of not more than three and a half hours, increased from €4,075 to €5,000. This will strengthen support for sessional-only services, which typically operate for shorter hours per week and fewer weeks per year. The minimum base-rate allocation increased from €8,150 to €14,000. This is the minimum amount of funding a centre-based service will receive through the base rate and ensures a minimum guaranteed income for services. The maximum base-rate allocation decreased from €600,000 to €500,000. I absolutely understand where the Deputy's heart is because the provision of these services is so integral to the life cycle within the community. He should be under no illusion; we are absolutely committed. We are doing it by making the money available and making the provision available. We will do all that is needed in future. I absolutely accept his bona fides.
Sentiment score: 0.13
I thank the Deputy. The national childcare scheme provides financial supports to parents to help reduce the cost of early learning and childcare. Only Tusla-registered providers are eligible to participate in the scheme. The limitation of public funding schemes to Tusla-registered providers helps to ensure that public funding is provided where there is assurance of the quality of provision. All childminders are now eligible to register with Tusla. This follows the commencement of legislation on 30 September 2024 which removes the legal exemption of childminders from registration and ensures parents who use Tusla-registered childminders are eligible for subsidies under the national childcare scheme. The National Action Plan for Childminding 2021-2028 set out a pathway for the extension of registration to childminders. A key objective of the national action plan for childminding is to enable parents who use childminders to benefit from State subsidies through the national childcare scheme. Childminding-specific regulations were initially developed by a regulation and inspection advisory group, whose stakeholder membership included childminders and Childminding Ireland. The regulations are proportionate and appropriate to the home and family setting in which childminders work. In finalising the regulations, substantial changes were made in response to feedback in the public consultation last year. The national action plan commits to a review of the initial implementation of the childminding-specific regulations before 2028. The Department will undertake this review, which will include consultation with childminders and other stakeholders, during the three-year transition period which runs to 2027. In order to access national childcare scheme subsidies, childminders must register with Tusla and then enter into contract to provide the scheme. In order to register with Tusla, a childminder is required to undertake pre-registration training, as well as meeting a number of other regulatory requirements and making an application to Tusla.
Sentiment score: 0.19
I want to be absolutely clear so there is no misunderstanding here. The national action plan that currently exists for childminding distinguishes between childminding which involves care in the childminder's home and care that takes place in the child's home which may be carried out by a nanny, an au pair, a babysitter or whatever term one might wish to use. The employment relationship and the legal and regulatory context are completely different between childminders who work in the childminder's home and someone who works in the child's home. A childminder working from the childminder's own home is self-employed whereas someone caring for a child in the child's own home is regarded as an employee of the child's parents. In addition, because they work in the parents' or the child's home rather than their own home, au pairs, nannies or babysitters cannot be held responsible for the safety or suitability of that home for the purpose of early learning or childcare. There are no current plans to bring nannies, au pairs or babysitters into the scope of registration or the national childcare scheme. However, the national action plan commits to develop information and training resources relating to the use of nannies, au pairs and babysitters.
Sentiment score: 0.16
As I have outlined and as the Deputy has said, this is a new scheme. The new scheme will be allowed to run but it is subject to review. That review will take place by 2027 in advance of 2028. Therefore, it will run and then there will be a review. We will then see what scope there is to change it, to add to it or whatever the case might be. However, in the existing national action plan for childminding there is an absolute distinction between provision of care for children in a childminder's home and the provision of care for children in the home of the child or parent. That is the position as it stands currently, notwithstanding that there will be a review and at that point there will be an opportunity to see if there is an opportunity to do things differently, to add to the scheme or whatever. There is a reference in the programme for Government to do as the Deputy has outlined. There is no timescale for that, but there is a reference and that can be manifested within the review process.
Sentiment score: 0.14