Childcare Services
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-23
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Aisling Dempsey (FF), Meath West

I thank the Minister. That is positive information and it is a positive scheme. I have had many inquiries over the last while from childcare providers in my area, both private and community-run, as to when it would be announced. It is important that it is for private and community facilities. We need all of our facilities to avail of it. I know people in Trim who are putting their children's names on waiting lists before they are even signing up for antenatal classes. The demand is that strong and this will make a big difference. Aiming the scheme, as I hope we will, primarily at one- to three-year-olds is also vitally important. They are children for whom we are lacking the most spaces. We need to help parents as much as possible to get back into the workforce if they wish to do so. This is a good scheme for achieving that. The scheme for State-led provision of childcare the Minister is working on will be hugely positive and beneficial.

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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