I move: That, notwithstanding anything in the Order of the Dáil of 29th March, 2023, setting out the rota in which Questions to members of the Government are to be asked, or in the Order of the Dáil of 24th September, 2024, Questions for oral answer, following those next set down to the Minister for Transport, shall be set down to Ministers in the following temporary sequence: Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Minister for Enterpri…

My Department delivers capital funding to the sector to support capacity growth. This year, the building blocks expansion scheme is funding reconfigurations of services to enable them to increase the number of places, particularly for one- to three-year-olds. I will launch the building blocks extension scheme soon, which will make €25 million available next year in large-scale capital grants for services to undertake building projects to increase their capacity. Again, this will primarily be focused on places for o…

I might return in my next contribution to the last issue the Deputy raised. Regarding capital, we announced a capital scheme in 2023 that was drawn down this year. That will already be delivering additional places. The Deputy is absolutely right regarding existing buildings. The new capital scheme I am set to announce in the next number of weeks will allow community services, in particular, to purchase existing buildings. They might be unused ones, as she mentioned, or buildings that were provided in housing develo…

As the Deputy knows, the JLC process is an independent process. We have improved it by the State stepping up and saying clearly to the parties that if they get a pay agreement, we will back it up in terms of meeting some of the extra wage costs for providers. It was disappointing that it took 14 months last time. I was very clear in what I announced yesterday that the allocation for staff pay is dependent on the ERO. The money will only flow to the services if we have that ERO in place. People working in the servic…

I cannot read out the information in tabular form but I will get that breakdown to the Deputy.

The data available to my Department demonstrates that, overall, early learning and childcare provision is expanding. The early years sector profile survey shows that between the 2021-22 year and the 2022-23 year, the estimated number of enrolments in services rose by 8% and the estimated number of staff in the early learning and childcare workforce also rose by 8%. Data from Tusla on service closures and new service registrations shows a net increase of 129 in the overall number of services in 2023. Core funding ap…

Capacity is now our core challenge in early years. Four years ago when I became Minister, the challenge was staff pay, which remains a challenge. The challenge was also the cost of childcare for parents. We have done a lot to meet that. It is still too expensive for some parents but we have taken important steps. The challenge was the sustainability of providers. In year four, core funding will be €390 million. Core funding did not exist before I became a Minister. It has gone a significant way to meeting the susta…

I think the Taoiseach was speaking in the context of proposals for his party’s manifesto in the general election, so I will not speak for him. However, I am happy to speak about what my own party will be talking about in the general election campaign.

The Deputy asked my view and I am very happy to give it to him. I believe the two years of ECCE should be legislated for on a statutory basis, so that every child has the right to access ECCE. Second, I believe that in areas of high capacity, the State now needs to step in and look at providing services directly. A combined model of public provision, community provision and private provision can work for the delivery of childcare everywhere. Third, the issue of staff pay is absolutely fundamental. That will require…

The mother and baby institutions payment scheme opened for applications in March this year. As of 30 September, more than 5,160 applications had been received. There are 4,540 fully completed applications that have proceeded into the processing system. The payment scheme office is supporting the remainder, namely, those applicants with incomplete applications who need to provide some further information. Just under 3,200 notices of determination have been issued to applicants, over 81% of which contain an offer of …

If there are specific instances that the Deputy wants to draw to my attention - many Deputies have been involved in this area - I will be happy to examine them, as I am always happy to do. We want to make this scheme work as quickly as possible. The scheme has been up and running for seven months now. Some 1,800 people have already received payments and, as I said, over €27 million has already been paid out to applicants within seven months of the establishment of the scheme. The Deputy is right that there have bee…

I thank the Deputy. She has spoken about an enhancement to the roll-out of the scheme that has been put in place. It is important to recognise that we are looking to make this scheme as easy as possible for people to get the initial award of a payment, a medical card or both, and to draw down the benefit. The Deputy identified a slight lacuna. A resource is being put in place to address the issue. I hope that will be evidence to the Deputy and to others that we are learning and always looking to design the scheme a…

I thank the Deputy. I am conscious of the hurt felt in particular by the survivors and family members of people who died in Bessborough. One of the most tragic aspects of what happened in that particular mother and baby institution was the uncertainty regarding the burial places of the many children who were resident there and the many children who we know died there and in some linked institutions. The investigation of burial arrangements in mother and baby institutions, including in Bessborough, was an important …

I thank the Deputy. I have had the opportunity to visit the site at Bessborough with a number of survivors and former residents. I know there are differing views on the excavation and reburial of human remains at that site. When we discussed Tuam, there was absolute agreement about the treatment of remains and the State's response. I do not think there is unanimity about the response at Bessborough. That is not to say that the State should not do anything but it is important that when we speak of engaging with surv…

That is a really difficult question to answer. How do we seek some degree of agreement or alignment among survivors on a site when there are clear differences as to how to proceed? I will not lie to the Deputy; I do not have the full answer for her today. There are different groups of survivors represented in Tuam but I know from my engagement when I travelled to Tuam and met survivors there, that everyone is unanimous on the need to intervene because of the treatment of the remains of children at that site. That s…

Apologies.

I thank the Deputy for his question. Improving access to quality and affordable early learning and childcare is a key priority for me as Minister. The data available shows that the level of capacity in the sector has risen substantially in recent years. However, I am aware that nationally, and in my own constituency as well, some parents are having difficulty in locating the type of affordable early learning and care provision they would like for their children. That is particularly acute for younger children. The …

It is important, while acknowledging the imperfections of how our system operates right now, that we always acknowledge the amazing work done in so many services all over the country, both community and private, in looking after our children and providing early learning and care. I believe there is a greater role for the State in the direct provision of early learning and care, particularly in areas of low provision and where capacity is under pressure. I would like to see the State have a greater role there which …

I hope I have demonstrated over the last four years my absolute determination to reduce costs. I have done that through the increases in the national childcare scheme, NCS. On average, we have been able to halve costs for parents. That has to be acknowledged. I would like to go further if I am part of the next Government. I will look to continue to go further but I caution on costs, Deputy. I hope in the next general election childcare is a central issue but I hope the debate is not just about the cost. Right now, …

As outlined in the national social enterprise policy, Trading for Impact, social enterprises are enterprises whose objective is to achieve a social or environmental impact, rather than maximising profit for its owners or shareholders. That policy response recognises that the early learning and childcare sector includes many social enterprises. Indeed, there are more social enterprises in early learning and childcare than in any other sector. Clearly, the social enterprise model is already a feature of the sector. T…