Childcare Services
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-17
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Mark Wall (LAB), Kildare South

I thank the Minister for her reply. It is disappointing to hear we have had no proposal from County Kildare. As the Minister is aware, I have discussed with her on multiple occasions in the House the deserts that exist in County Kildare, particularly around towns such as Kilcullen and Newbridge, where parents come to me and say they cannot find childcare. The question I have as a result of the Minister's reply is whether parents can contact the childcare committees. It seems to me that unless a provider contacts the childcare committees we will not get the facilities we need in Kildare. It is parents who are contacting me and it is parents who are facing these problems. I have previously given examples in the House of people who have made a life in Kilcullen having to move back to counties such as Kilkenny because they do not have childcare facilities in that town. This is still happening on a weekly basis in my county. Again, the question I ask is whether the Department will get involved in identifying these deserts that we and the Minister have spoken about in the House previously rather than relying on childcare committees and proposals that childcare committees might get from providers.

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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