Childcare Services
Dail Éireann — 2025-12-18
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Norma Foley (FF), Kerry

I thank the Deputy. Childminders are a hugely important part of early learning and care and school-age childcare provision and they continue to be the option of choice for many families. The National Action Plan for Childminding 2021-2028 set out a pathway for the extension of regulation to childminders. A singular objective of the national action plan is to enable parents who use childminders to benefit from State subsidies through the national childcare scheme. The Childcare Support Act 2018, which provides a statutory basis for the national childcare scheme, specifies that only Tusla-registered childminders are eligible to participate in the scheme. The limitation of public funding schemes to Tusla-registered providers helps to ensure public funding is provided where there is assurance of the quality of provision.
It must be noted that childminding regulations only came into effect in September 2024, with a statutory transition period of three years ending in September 2027. Registration is therefore not mandatory until the end of this transition period. This phased approach aims to facilitate the largest possible number of childminders to enter the regulated sector, the sphere of quality assurance, and access to Government subsidies, while recognising the time and supports required for childminders to learn about and prepare for registration. The childminding-specific regulations are designed to be proportionate and appropriate to the home and family setting in which childminders work. The regulations differ substantially from regulations for centre-based childcare. While the Department has successfully completed phase 1 of the national action plan, considerable work lies ahead during phase 2 in supporting the large number of unregistered childminders to register with Tusla and take part in the national childcare scheme before the end of the transition period, in County Clare and right around the country.
I fully understand the sense of uncertainty and anxiety childminders may be experiencing in this period of transition. Communication is essential to overcoming this. A national communications strategy is a key element in phase 2 of the national action plan during the transition period we are now in. Work on this communications strategy has begun with the aim of informing childminders and parents about the changes, the supports available and what to expect. The Department has committed to a review of the initial implementation of the childminding-specific regulations in phase 2 also. I aim to meet Childminding Ireland on a one-to-one basis before the review of the regulations commences.

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Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:29+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-18