Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)

To assist the Minister with that meeting, I would say it is time our planning authorities were required to scale up their competency in childcare. At present, assessment of childcare needs occupies a low level of priority when it comes to assessing planning applications in large-scale residential developments. That needs to change. There should be mandatory technical guidelines for childcare facilities so that units are suitable and usable as childcare facilities in size, design, regulatory compliance and location. They should not be built at the back of estates, essentially as housing units, for numbers of children that are not viable for childcare providers. We need to end the prevalence of childcare units lying empty in places of overwhelming childcare demand, such as in my constituency of Dublin West where units have lain empty for years. By updating the guidelines, the Minister can create an effective pipeline for State-led childcare facilities that will build the mixed private-public model of childcare that we desperately need.

See this speech in context