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

Norma Foley (FF), Kerry

I reiterate that there is unprecedented investment by the State in this sector. I think €1.7 billion speaks to the determination of the State to support early learning and childcare provision. That is in terms of supporting providers, the workforce and parents. We are moving into budget 2027 where there are negotiations, which I imagine will be ongoing to the eleventh hour, to see how we can advance in each of those areas. It is unprecedented in terms of this sector to speak even at this point in terms of €1.7 billion. On the issues the Deputy raised around sustainability, that sustainability review is now open to providers to engage. In terms of the specific issues he raised, there are differences between early learning and childcare provision and school age childcare provision. Notwithstanding that, the State is committed to continue investing in the early learning and childcare sector.

---

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