Childcare Services
Dail Éireann — 2025-12-18
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Claire Kerrane (SF), Roscommon-Galway

We have to be clear; I have not met a childminder who has an issue with regulations. Most of them have first aid training, insurance and Garda vetting. They have much of it in place for so many years already. That is not the issue. Rather, the issue lies with the inspections. Inspections will form part of the regulations – we all know that – but it is about what those inspections will look like and the rooms in the family home the inspector will go into. These are details that childminders should have before and while they are registering with Tusla. Clarification like that would probably increase the numbers registering with Tusla because they are being asked to register without knowing the ins and outs of what they are signing up to. That is a mistake and it is probably why we only have 150 registered out of tens of thousands of childminders in this State. That should cause concern. I welcome that the Minister said the review will be as close as possible to quarter 1 of 2026. I welcome that because I am not making it up - I hope the Minister takes me at my word - that childminders are leaving the sector. We cannot afford to lose them. We need that review as quickly as possible in the new year.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-12-18/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:29+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-18