The Deputy and anybody who has served in a local authority will be aware of prescribed bodies that are consulted in terms of what is coming before the local authority. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has consented and confirmed that the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality will now be one of the prescribed bodies to be notified by local authorities of a planning application that might give rise to a change in the demand for early learning and childcare provision. For example, I thi…

I know that the vast majority of Members will agree with me that the preferred option for children coming into the care of the State is foster care. It is the first option. This is where almost nine in every ten children in care are placed. However, Tusla operates in a very challenging and demand-led environment providing vital services to children, young people and families that often present with particularly complex issues, and foster care might not meet their needs. Tusla has acknowledged the need to increase i…

To reiterate, there has been a significant year-on-year increase in Tusla funding, with a 14% increase this year, or €177 million, in the context of its overall budget of €1.4 billion for 2026. That will provide Tusla with the opportunity to increase the overall provision of residential placements for children in need to more than 800. The Deputy will appreciate that as the 2027 budget process is ongoing, I cannot give a commitment at this stage in respect of future funding. She can be assured that we have seen inc…

To be clear, the additional funding Tusla was given this year allowed it to open an additional 38 residential care placements in 2025, with a prediction that a further 47 will be provided in 2026-27, which gives a total over the two years of 85. The overall budget increase will help Tusla to increase the overall availability of places for children in need to more than 800. Notwithstanding that, I hear the Deputy's point regarding special emergency arrangements being unregulated. I want to be clear that Tusla has do…

Perhaps the Deputy was not in the Chamber earlier when we spoke about the progress that has been made towards the €200. As I said, we have published phase 1 of the action plan and phase 2 is under way. We have made some progress. For example, we made the announcement recently in terms of the maximum fee caps. For the vast majority of people who are availing of childcare services of less than 50 hours, and this is the cohort paying the highest fees, that payment will reduce to €183 per week. We have also confirmed t…

To be fair, I agree with the Deputy in terms of issues she has raised, such as that of pay, for example. It is for that reason that €45 million was ring-fenced last year and will be this year to improve the pay for workers, notwithstanding the fact that the State is not the employer here, and the Deputy has made that point very eloquently, However, the State is stepping in. How that is divvied up is independent of the Minister and the Department and that work is under way. Over two years, €90 million being put on t…

The Deputy is correct when she says it is about having the staff, the premises and a sufficient number of places available at costs that are affordable to parents. There are at least three key elements here that have to be achieved. There is no point in achieving one if we are not achieving the other two. I take the Deputy's point in relation to schools and she is right. I have worked the vast majority of my life in schools. It is part of the programme for Government that we would look at, for example, where new sc…

I thank Deputy Dempsey. I have always made it clear that the €200-per-month programme for Government commitment is to be achieved over the lifetime of this Government. We did discuss this earlier. Shaping the Future: The Early Years Action Plan, phase 1 report, was published last December and we have now moved on to phase 2 of the action plan report. That is very much focusing on consultation and drawing in the opinions, thoughts and lived experience of people who are in the sector, such as parents and others who h…

I want to acknowledge Deputy Dempsey's personal engagement with me specifically on the areas of early years and childcare and in particular the costs. She can be absolutely assured that we are going into this budget seeking the maximum funding we can to advance the ambition. It is a very clear ambition that is in the programme for Government around the €200-per-month cost, or the €50-per-week. Also part of that is ensuring there is sufficiency of funding that there are enough places available so parents are catered…

I thank Deputy Currie. She is correct when she says that 96% is regarded as a very high uptake of the ECCE services, but it is our aspiration to reach 100%. I am aware that a number of ECCE-only services have been receiving rates-payable notifications from their local authorities. The Department, and others, have previously advised the sector that ECCE-only services are exempt from paying commercial rates under paragraph 10 of Schedule 4 of the Valuation Act 2001. Given the importance of early learning and childcar…

As I previously outlined, there was a clear understanding. The Department is very clear, based on correspondence and the understanding it had received previously from its sister Department, that ECCE-only services were exempt from paying commercial rates under paragraph 10 of Schedule 4 of the Valuation Act 2001. Notwithstanding that, it is not within the gift of the Department to set commercial rates for early learning and childcare service providers. However, I want to acknowledge that there has been an absolute …

It is important to confirm again that we need to take this step by step. We are currently engaging with the Department of housing, the Minister for housing and the Attorney General to see if there is any avenue to resolve this matter in the context of current legislation.

That is the first step. I appreciate what the Deputy is doing; I absolutely do but I will take it step by step. I will wait for the adjudication of the Attorney General. He has given it his personal attention. He is also seeking external advice and we will see what we can do within the current legislation. I am also aware that a number of childminding services have also received rates payable notifications from their local authorities and that has also been a huge concern. I have also stated previously that under n…

In line with the requirements of the Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) Regulations 2016 and the Child Care Act 1991 (Early Year Services) (Registration of School Age Services) Regulations 2018, those wishing to operate an early years service or a school-age service are required to register with Tusla for the purposes of regulation. As of the end of quarter 1 2026, there were 3,941 early years services and 3,032 school-age services registered with Tusla in line with these statutory provisions. The Departmen…

Gorgeous. For ease of reference, a full copy of the 2016 regulations is available to download from Tusla's website. The data provided by Tusla is in respect of inspections as opposed to services. This is because some services may have been inspected more than once. That is an important consideration. The figures I am about to provide relate to inspections, not services. Over 3,500 inspections of early years services took place over the period. The level of non-compliance by regulation at the end of the inspection p…

I will add some information in order to provide flavour. In the context of qualifications, there are a number of factors relating to why people might be non-compliant. Staff may have some component modules of a level 5 completed and may be in the process of studying further. Some staff from abroad may not yet have applied to the Department for qualification recognition. They may have a qualification but are in the process of applying for recognition. Some Irish staff may not have applied to the Department for quali…

There you go. I thought it was a very good report.

The Deputy has raised this matter consistently. I am very happy to confirm that the review of the initial implementation of the childminding regulations, which will be managed by an external company, launched on Friday of last week with an open call for submissions. The review will include consultation with childminders and other stakeholders and will provide an important opportunity to learn lessons from initial experiences with the regulations. In addition to hearing from childminders who have not yet registered,…

No worries.

I agree with the Deputy. It is a cause for concern. It is for that reason I wanted to move it to the earliest point possible, accepting the Deputy has articulated that also. We are in a three-year transitioned period up to September 2027. The numbers are low. The exact figure is fewer than 200. The Deputy is right in that there is a body of work to be done. I want this to work for childminders. They are a really important element of service provision, along with all the other elements of service that are out there.…