Childcare Services
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-17
============================================================

Norma Foley (FF), Kerry

The Deputy is right. I appreciate that there are many eyes on this and there is great interest in this initiative, it being the first time that the State is actually stepping in this area with the State-led early learning and childcare initiative. I intend to make the announcement in the coming weeks. I am conscious of the case the Deputy makes about her own area. She has made it eloquently and consistently. I acknowledge Deputy Martin Daly has also made it eloquently and consistently, as have many local councillors. I am conscious of Deputy Kerrane's and Deputy Martin Daly's interest in this area. We are continuing to take applications. This is a long-term commitment by the Government. It is time-consuming. There is the initial business case, then the full business case and then commercial negotiations, which are sensitive. We are pleased with the progress that has been made and look forward to the coming weeks.

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-17/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-17