Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue and for sharing her own experience. It is really important that we, as female parliamentarians, share our experience. It is inspiring for others who may follow in her footsteps that the Deputy has done so.

The challenge of providing accessible childcare is very much real. The Deputy outlined the issues many of her constituents face. Many of my constituents, and some of my friends, are in the same boat, having to put down the names of children who are not yet born or named for childcare places. This is not ideal and the Government is committed to addressing it.

Early learning and childcare capacity is increasing. That is a fact. Data from the annual early years sector profile for 2023-24 shows the estimated number of enrolments increased by 19% from two years previously. The Tusla register of services demonstrates a net increase of 226 in the numbers of registered early learning and childcare services last year. That is really positive because it shows it is a growing sector that is ambitious to, and is designed to, meet the forward demands.

A forward planning model is in development by the Department of Children, Disability and Equality. It will be central to building an affordable, high-quality and accessible early learning and childcare system, with State-led facilities adding capacity to what already exists. As the Deputy rightly said, that is something many of the parties campaigned for during the most recent election. The Government continues to support the ongoing development and resourcing of core funding, which has given rise to a significant expansion of places since the scheme was first introduced. It provides stability to services and reduces the risk associated with opening a new service or expanding an existing one. We must do this to support childcare providers.

The Government is also supporting the expansion of capacity through capital funding. The building blocks extension grant scheme is designed to increase capacity in the one- to three-year-old cohort, the pre—early childhood care and education category and in the age range for full daycare. The Minister has approved 50 applications to progress to the next stage of the building blocks extension grant scheme. When completed, these projects will deliver 1,500 additional full-time childcare places for one- to three-year-olds.

The Deputy is absolutely right in her comments on the impact of access to high-quality, affordable childcare on gender equality in the workplace. That is why we need to support parents, providers and those working to build their career in the sector. When I was Minister of State in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, I got the opportunity to work with some of the organisations that represent our childcare workers. I was delighted to sign some of the new statutory instruments into effect relating to their wages. It is really important that we continue to invest in the sector, whether in the physical buildings, through core funding for service providers or by way of funding for childcare workers. That is the best way to support parents and children and to deliver better gender equality in workplaces.

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