Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. Investment in the early learning and childcare sector is now at an unprecedented level with public funding exceeding €1.37 billion in 2025. We have never had as much money being expended. This clearly demonstrates the Government’s commitment to this area. As well as addressing affordability, this investment has served to improve accessibility, availability and the quality of provision. The new programme for Government provides the impetus now to go much further however, and to deliver more high-quality early learning and childcare places at a cost that is affordable to families. Under this Government, the recently established supply management unit in the Department will be resourced and transformed into a forward planning and delivery unit to identify areas of need and better forecast demand. That is important. The Government is also making a commitment that this unit will introduce an element of public provision with State-led facilities to add capacity in conjunction with capacity provided by private operators. As a key first step, the unit will work to identify the type and number of local places across the country, and how this compares to the number of children in the corresponding age groups. A poll is also being undertaken of parents to better understand their preferences for early learning and childcare. That is important too. Taking a more strategic approach to forward planning and the option of public delivery offers much greater scope to influence the type and number of places available and to better align them with families’ needs. Record numbers are now benefiting from the national childcare scheme. Some 220,000 children benefited from a subsidy under the scheme in 2024. Fee controls are in place in almost 93% of services as a result of the core funding scheme and this ensures the investment is not unnecessarily absorbed by fee increases.

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