Early Childhood Care and Education
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-15
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Niamh Smyth (FF), Cavan-Monaghan

I totally concur with the Deputies' appraisal of the response to the effect that there is an avenue open now for Tusla, the provider and the Department of education to sit down and find a pathway forward. There may be a narrow window, but anything can be done within six weeks. It would seem deeply unfair that, because there may be discrepancies related to two children, 60 children and their wider network of family, parents and friends would be impacted. To give to any family the traumatic news that perhaps within six weeks' time their child will not have a place seems deeply unfair. Therefore, I appeal to Tusla to sit down with the provider and the Department of education to find a pathway forward, take away the uncertainty and give predictability to parents as quickly as possible.
Once again, I thank both Deputies. I know that when you go to public meetings like those in question, there are tough stories from parents and you may feel a little inadequate sometimes in being able to deal with these things as quickly as possible. I am glad the Deputies used their time here today to make the presentation and to campaign for the parents. I will relay their very heartfelt sentiments to the Minister, Deputy Foley, this afternoon.
The Minister wishes to acknowledge the role of the Tusla's early years inspectorate, which is the statutory regulator of early years services in Ireland. Regulation includes registration, inspection and, where necessary, enforcement. Regulation is very important. It is the gold stamp of approval for any service. The question here is one of why now when the service has already been in place for what I imagine is many years. Tusla's early years inspectorate promotes and monitors the safety and quality of care and support of children in Tusla-registered early years services in accordance with the Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) Regulations 2016. The ECCE programme currently provides for exemptions to the upper age limit in certain circumstances, as I have outlined, to support children with additional needs. The provisions of the exemptions provide an opportunity to ensure that these arrangements continue to meet the needs of children and families while remaining consistent with the objectives of the ECCE programme.
I will relay to the Minister the Deputies' heartfelt remarks on behalf of these most vulnerable children and their families.

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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