Childcare Services
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-23
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Mark Wall (LAB), Kildare South

I appreciate the Minister clarifying this as it is an important distinction to make. Existing providers have access to other programmes to increase their level of service and this is important. Are those with a building excluded from putting forward that building? I want to mention the Kilcullen area of County Kildare. I am not sure whether one of the three is for this area. I have raised with the Minister previously the issue whereby upwards of 100 children are without a childcare service in that town. This is replicated throughout Kildare South where the population has increased. We have a very young population. Parents get up very early in the morning to travel 30 km or 40 km to avail of childcare services in other towns. Some of them travel into Dublin to avail of services. This cannot continue. This is a great opportunity for the Government to look at areas such as Kildare and develop State-led services. I ask the Minister to look at this and maybe she can confirm whether the option to propose buildings is still open.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-23/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-23