Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this point. He raised it with me beforehand. I am aware of the article the Deputy spoke about. Whenever a childcare, early learning or after-school care service closes, it is a deeply traumatic time for children and parents. That being said, a significant number of early learning and after-school care services have opened in Cork in the past year. I will write to the Deputy so the figures he spoke about can be put in context. Concerning next steps, a significant capital scheme is available in 2024 of €20 million for existing services to expand to open new rooms and provide new offerings for children in early learning and after-school care. We are working with local authorities to make sure that when new planning applications are granted for houses and a childcare facility is linked to that, the facility is delivered. We know that does not always happen right now. We are working with the Department of housing and local government to strengthen the regulations.

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