Early Childhood Care and Education
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-15
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John Lahart (FF), Dublin South-West

One of the things that strikes me about the reply, which is not the Minister of State's responsibility, is its technical nature and the lack of child-focused orientation it displays. There is no comfort in it for parents as to what will be done for their children in six weeks' time. That is the real letdown.
I fully concur with Deputy Moynihan that there is an avenue available to move this situation forward. I am grateful for the Minister of State's indication in that regard. If there is a child-focused view and perspective, then the Departments of children and education will move Heaven and earth to ensure that Nexus is in a position to qualify and to jump through the hoops that are there.
I thank the Chair for allowing me a bit of latitude here. I am not saying Tusla is wrong in its position. Nexus may not have been upfront with us but we have no reason to believe that is the case. Tusla has not explained why it allowed this service to continue. According to the provider, there were inspections previously. Let us focus on the children. They need places and their parents need certainty for 1 September.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-15/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:08+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-15