Childcare Services
Dail Éireann — 2025-02-25
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Norma Foley (FF), Kerry

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.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-02-25/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:53:32+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-02-25