Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation
Dail Éireann — 2026-06-25
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Simon Harris (FG), Wicklow

We will publish a roadmap on how we create the childcare system I think everybody in this House wants. We had a good meeting of the Cabinet committee on this in recent weeks. Fees are one element, and we have a commitment to get to €200 per child per month in the lifetime of the Government. However, fees without access will only frustrate parents. We have increased the childcare budget to the largest ever, at €1.5 billion, which is up by 12% on last year. That is the highest ever level of State investment. I take the Deputy's point about private for-profit, but we are now seeing for the first time public money being used to deliver public facilities. The Deputy can expect to see that roadmap from the Government around budget time, where we need to move a number of things in parallel. The one that often gets attention is when are we getting to the €200. We are committed to getting to that in the lifetime of the Government, but we have to move the other streams alongside that, which I think is at the core of the Deputy's question. If he sends me the details of the Knocklyon case, I will have the Minister, Deputy Foley, come back to him.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-06-25/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:51+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-25