I thank Deputy O'Donoghue for raising this issue and offering me the opportunity to respond on behalf of the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Deputy Norma Foley. The Department is conscious that the cost of early learning and childcare and organised summer activities can present financial challenges for families, particularly those on lower incomes. Through a range of measures, the Government seeks to reduce these costs and improve access to high-quality, affordable childcare. A key support in this regard is the national childcare scheme, NCS. This scheme provides financial supports in the form of either universal or income-assessed subsidies to reduce the cost of early learning and childcare for eligible families. The scheme operates on a tapered, income-assessed basis, with subsidy rates reducing progressively as household incomes increase. This design ensures that families with the lowest levels of income receive the highest rates of support. The scheme also includes a universal element whereby all eligible families may apply for a minimum of €2.14 per hour for a maximum of 40 weekly hours, regardless of their income levels. While the NCS does not provide subsidies for stand-alone summer camps or recreational activities outside of Tusla-registered early learning and childcare, many participating NCS services continue to operate during the summer season. This ensures public funding is provided where there is assurance of the quality of provision. Where eligible families register with such a service, they may continue to avail of their NCS subsidy during the summer months. Importantly, families may choose to claim the maximum weekly hours, namely, 45 hours, during school holidays, including the summer. An evaluation of the NCS has recently commenced. This review will assess the performance of the scheme to date and its operation within the wider early learning and childcare funding and policy environment. It will also identify any improvements that could be made to enhance accessibility and affordability and to ensure that the scheme is working for as many families as possible.

Sentiment score: 0.23

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. As I said, childcare is a priority for the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality and the Government as a whole. The Deputy is specifically referring to summer camps and recreational activities outside the NCS. Summer camps which provide early years service, that is, summer camps for children under six years of age, are considered an early years service and must therefore be registered, unless exempted as defined under section 58A of the Child Care Act, inserted by section 92 of the Child and Family Agency Act 2013. I would like it noted that further enhancements of the income-assessed subsidy are being introduced from 31 October of this year. These include an increase in the lower income threshold to qualify for the maximum subsidy rate from €26,000 to €34,000. This will ensure more families on lower incomes, including those below the relative poverty line, will qualify for the highest level of support. In addition, increases to the multiple-child discount component of the income-assessed subsidy for families for two or more children will further reduce families' reckonable income, thereby supporting access to higher subsidy rates for childcare. As I have said, that childcare is available through NCS services throughout the summer months.

Sentiment score: 0.17

I thank all three Deputies for raising this really important issue and giving me the opportunity to respond. As the Minister of State with responsibility for disability, I, along with the Minister, Deputy Foley, and the Government, fully recognise the importance of providing timely and appropriate supports for people with disabilities and their families. We are committed to improving access to these services across the country, including for children and families in Waterford and the south east. The HSE children's disability services team has undergone significant reform and restructuring over the past few years. The core focus of these changes has been to ensure children with complex needs and their families receive an appropriate and accessible family-centred service. HSE preliminary data for March 2026 indicates our CDNTs are providing services and supports nationally for 45,472 children and strategies and supports for wait-listed children with urgent needs, where staffing resources allow. These are encouraging in terms of the numbers of children receiving support but there has also been encouraging progress in the numbers on our waiting lists reducing. In that same period, the national CDNT waiting list has reduced by 50% from 16,522 children in 2023 to 8,200 children at the end of March this year. In the national services plan for this year, the HSE is committed to a further 25% reduction in the numbers on our waiting lists. The HSE preliminary data to the end of March this year indicates that for Dublin and the south-east health region, which is the region all three Deputies represent, 6,834 children are on open CDNT caseloads or are receiving services, and a waiting list of 2,078 children remains. The children's disability network team in Waterford and the south east continues to provide services and supports for children from birth to 18 years of age. I would like to pay tribute to all the staff working in our CDNT teams, not just in that region but across Ireland. Like many areas across the country, they continue to face recruitment and retention challenges across a range of health and social care professions. As Deputy Ó Súilleabháin pointed out, in the north west and in south Wicklow, there is a particular issue with dietitians; as Deputy McGuinness pointed out, in Dungarvan, there is a particular issue in terms of speech and language therapists; and as Deputy Newsome Drennan pointed out, while in south Kilkenny there are high vacancy rates, in Kilkenny, there are not. There are areas where vacancy rates are higher and we will be prioritising the teams with the highest vacancy rates when it comes to allocation of additional resources. Services are operating under significant pressure. That is as a result of those vacancy rates and also the demand. While teams continue to work hard to meet the needs of the children and families, workforce shortages can impact the capacity to provide assessments therapies and interventions. This can slow things down and, ultimately, everybody wants that sped up. Unfortunately, children on the CDNT register, whether they are on waiting lists or on an open caseload, are likely to be waiting some time in terms of intervention. That is a direct result of those issues, which we are determined to overcome. I acknowledge the frustration this can cause for children and their families. The HSE and CDNT lead agencies are continuing to work actively and collaboratively to recruit into funded posts to strengthen workforce capacity and support staff retention across the sector. We have provided funding for additional posts in recent years to enhance the capacity of teams and reduce waiting lists. Most recently, €8 million was secured in this year's budget to support the recruitment of 150 additional posts for CDNT teams. As I said, priority will be given to the teams with which there are the highest vacancy waiting lists.

Sentiment score: 0.24

I thank the Deputies very much. I fully appreciate not just their frustrations but those of the parents and children they are here representing. I am pleased to be able to say that we are making progress when it comes to recruitment. The HSE reported a 28% increase in staffing levels nationwide from October 2023 to October 2025. That equates to 448 whole-time equivalents now working in HSE disability services. That includes an additional 321 who are specifically health and social care professionals. We are doing a lot of work to increase that pipeline to be able to hire from. One example of this is the student sponsorship programme, which we launched in April of last year. That has already resulted in more than 40 graduates taking up roles in our CDNTs nationally. This includes six student sponsorships across integrated healthcare area, IHA, Carlow, Kilkenny and south Tipperary and IHA Wexford and Waterford. Therefore, the Deputies will see even in their own areas that this is an initiative that is working to help support their constituents. In addition, a dedicated disability workforce strategy is being developed by the HSE this year to meet growing service demands and address recruitment and retention challenges. While challenges do remain, both the Government, the HSE and our funded service providers - our section 38 and section 39 organisations - remain absolutely committed to improving access to disability services, strengthening workforce capacity and ensuring that children with disabilities and their families receive the supports they need.

Sentiment score: 0.38