I want to ask the Minister to outline the measures for the early years sector that were announced in budget 2026, particularly the measure to provide 2,300 places via extensions to schools and community centres. Perhaps she will be able to enlighten us as to where that measure came from and how long she expects planning permission to take for these extensions to take place.

I welcome all of those measures and any measure announced for the early years sector that will make a difference. One of the biggest issues we have in the early years sector right now is capacity. We have serious issues in terms of capacity, whether it is capacity in baby rooms or capacity in childcare places at every level right across the State. As far as I am concerned, when we need 40,000 to 50,000 childcare places, we are in a crisis. I had hoped the building blocks grant would have been expanded. I have raise…

In terms of building capacity, where has the idea of extensions to schools and community centres to create 2,300 places come from? I think of a school in Ballinasloe that has waited almost 30 years for a new build. Schools cannot build and develop what they need to and we are talking about extensions. We need childcare places tomorrow. Extensions to schools, if there is permission from schools in the first instance, involve planning permission and building work. How long will it take to create 2,300 places? I welco…

This Bill will allow the ESB to access more funding and do more in terms of investment in improving infrastructure. As the majority shareholder in the ESB, there is a real onus on the Government to ensure people feel the benefit of that extra funding and investment. This is especially important for areas like mine across Roscommon and Galway that were hammered by Storm Éowyn earlier this year. Proceeding with projects and more investment is key, of course, but security of supply is absolutely critical. In January, …

To the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and the Minister of State, I have to say I was in disbelief at what was announced on childcare in the budget yesterday. In the last two weeks it has been reported that between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil there has been a wrestle between reducing costs for parents or building childcare capacity. This budget does neither. We are all well aware that there are three big issues. They are the cost for parents, the severe lack of childcare places and pay and terms and conditions for our early year…

We have no ring-fenced funding for our early years educators and school-age practitioners at a time when the staff turnover rate in some counties is upwards of 50%. We have 50% of early years educators in some counties leaving the sector, yet we have no ring-fenced funding for an additional pay increase next year. They are still waiting on the pay increase that was announced in June. We are almost four months on now. That was only signed last week, and I welcomed it, but that should have and could have been in plac…

I have asked repeatedly for the most perfect system - I credit the Government for it because it got to it eventually - for family carers in terms of the State pension. It is excellent, and family carers have got the State pension they deserve, especially those who were short the 520 credits. The Government should do the same thing for foster carers where they are short and not allow them to get to the age of 66 after giving 30 and 40 years of service to this State looking after children, some of whom have been thro…

Family carers deserve an income support that recognises their care. The current system does not do that because if you are living with someone or are married to somebody, no matter how much care you provide and whether it is 24-7 or whatever it may be, it does not matter. The care does not matter because your partner, your husband and the person you are living with has an income. I always recall a constituent who came to my office many years ago. She was in receipt of the blind pension. Her partner got a promotion …

County Roscommon is one of a number of counties with no domestic violence refuge. I met with Roscommon Safe Link over the summer. I must commend them on the great work that they do. For a number of years, they have been struggling to find a location for a refuge, which they are anxious to establish for the county. They are struggling to find one that meets the standards that are being applied by the Housing Agency. They are finding them too restrictive. What they have asked is that there would be a more realistic a…

I agree with my colleague that the Minister for Health should be here tonight to stand over a decision she has made. She should be here to answer our questions. The Minister for Health should be here to tell us why pregnant women in our region are going to be forced to travel to access maternity care and have their babies. She should be here tonight to tell us why she and the HSE have made a decision that essentially means we have issues here, we are going to do reviews, we are going to implement the recommendation…

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. Of course, the bottom line here is that if you seek an external independent report, get the recommendations, fail to implement those recommendations, and then see the same issues arise again, it is not exactly rocket science to know how that has happened. We, as elected representatives, have been misled. On a really important report in relation to the birth of children at a hospital, a report that is that important, we were misled in terms of the recommendations not bein…

Child poverty is rising. It is incredible to think that, in 2025, in one of the richest countries in the world, we have a situation whereby this generation is so much more worse off than the previous. I think of my own parents who were born in the 1960s. When they grew up, they had very little but they were never hungry. That was 60 years ago. There are serious questions, and the Government needs to have a serious look at itself, when right now today the basics and guarantees in life in Ireland do not exist any mor…

Things have moved on since I submitted this question and we now know that child was Daniel Aruebose. I take this opportunity to offer my sympathies to everybody who loved him, especially the foster carers who looked after him.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. I appreciate, and we all respect, that the Garda investigation is under way and the force has to be allowed do its work. It is important to acknowledge those gardaí as well. It was a very difficult search, especially finding the remains. I have a couple of questions. I welcome that the closed cases will be examined, starting with those closed during Covid. For any social worker, like any of us in any job we do, cases may be closed and later on things may happen and unless they are bro…

I take it from that reply that perhaps this will be done in future by Tusla, and of course there is a role for other organisations. On one other point, there appears to be a gap for preschool-age children. When a child is born, there may be a number of visits by the public health nurse to the home. After that, depending on whether the child goes into formal childcare, there really is no check that exists, and that is of concern. The Minister has cited ECCE data and maybe looking at that. That is something that shou…

I ask the Minister about a number of key commitments in relation to childcare in early years in the programme for Government, specifically the broad consultation, the detailed action plan to ensure accessible, affordable, high-quality childcare and also the review of core funding. I ask her to provide us with any timeframe in relation to any of those three key commitments. Within the broad action plan is also the use of State-led facilities for the first time, which is really welcome.

I want to come back to the State-led facilities, which is a significant move. The Minister talked about looking at areas of unmet need. I understand some scoping was carried out within the Minister’s Department in terms of where that unmet need is. To provide one example, which I have given here before, an analysis was carried out with the family resource centre in Boyle, County Roscommon. That analysis found that there are 20 childcare places per 1,043 children for Boyle and its catchment area. A total of 77% of c…

I appreciate the decision has not been made yet, but does the Minister envisage using the building blocks scheme to build capacity and allow a new group that has come together, particularly groups of parents, to purchase an existing building? It is a win-win then. New premises are not necessarily needed in Boyle. There is an ideal premises in the town that is well located and perfect for its use, but they are not in a position to buy it. I am sure in all of our counties and towns we can point to buildings that woul…

I want to ask the Minister about the regulations that came into effect for childminders across the State in September 2024. They have now been in place for a year and there are issues being raised, primarily by Childminding Ireland. Given the severe capacity issues we have within our early years sector and the very high turnover of early years educators, particularly out of private childcare settings, we need now more than ever to retain our childminders and ensure they can work within these new regulations. Is the…

I welcome and acknowledge the fact childminders can now provide supports of the national childcare scheme and that will perhaps encourage or allow parents the choice rather than choosing a formal childcare setting. This is particularly so in rural areas where childminders would be used a lot, especially where they can provide flexibility that perhaps the formal childcare setting cannot. I have met representatives of Childminding Ireland and there are significant concerns and issues in regard to the regulations. Chi…