Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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I thank the Acting Chair for sitting so late. I also thank the Minister of State for her time here this evening. County Kildare is in desperate need of the Government's attention. Despite being the fifth most populated local authority area in the State, with a population four times larger than our neighbours in Carlow, we rarely receive the appropriate national attention required.

Kildare's growth continues to outpace that of the State. Since 1991, the population in Kildare has doubled to 247,000 in 2022. lf Kildare continues to grow at such a pace, we can expect to have a population of 500,000 people by 2050.

Kildare has the second youngest average age of all counties in Ireland and the fourth highest birthrate. One third of Kildare's population is aged zero to 24 years. One in four of Kildare's population is aged under 17 years.

I cite the wonderful work of the All-Ireland Research Observatory, Kildare LCDC and the county council which, following census 2022, embarked on a comprehensive project to better understand Kildare. This research was published in 2024. It includes some statistics about childcare and early years education. Childcare fees in County Kildare are above the State average. Kildare has the lowest rate of community-based childcare facilitates in the State, with only 5% of services classed as community services. The national average is 24%. The rate of our neighbours in Carlow is 35%.

Kildare is unique not just for its beauty, but also for its population. Communities are thriving but need and deserve Government attention. With population growth like we have seen in Kildare, it is not rocket science to understand that services and infrastructure will come under pressure. Whether it is housing, education, transport or healthcare, all too often the basics required to live and raise a family in Kildare require luck or patience to avail of them.

Today, however, we are here to discuss childcare and early years services in Kildare. I again thank the Minister of State for being here to listen. I am here to advocate on behalf of the hundreds of parents in Kildare with whom I have spoken about this issue alone: young parents who have either moved to Kildare in recent years, or who themselves have grown up and proudly remain in Kildare.

The common story is this. Having purchased a home or entered a tenancy agreement, the attention of the family turns to securing a place for their child in the local childcare facility. The chances are that they will be refused. I have heard stories of people taking days or weeks off work to just ring around and visit facilities in the hope of securing a place. They might be offered a spot on the waiting list but they will need to join a queue that is hundreds and hundreds long.

That is no reflection on the service. I do not know of one childcare facility in Kildare that is not operating at full capacity. Nonetheless, Government policy will not fix this problem. It is time to admit how difficult it is for parents, families, the incredible workers in the sector and service providers. The previous Government’s hope of wrapping up the development of childcare facilities in strategic housing developments has failed. There are too many examples of proposed childcare facilities lying idle for months, if not years. For as long as the Government relies on the private market alone to meet what is a public good, the childcare and early years education issues that remain will only continue to worsen, specifically in County Kildare.

I ask the Government to row in behind the county council, the LCDC and the childcare committee, and to put in a comprehensive public and community-based response to ensure every child and family has affordable access and an efficient service.

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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I thank Deputy Farrelly for raising this important issue and giving me the opportunity to respond on behalf of the Minister. Improving access to quality and affordable early learning and childcare is a key priority of the Government. I heard what the Deputy said about County Kildare and the specifics of the age profile in the county. In fact, at one point, I was privileged to represent County Kildare in the European Parliament and I know about some of the issues raised. I understand from what the Deputy said that this creates certain issues that perhaps are not as obvious in other parts of the country because of the age profile.

We are here to discuss early learning and childcare capacity, which is increasing under this Government. Data from the annual early years sector profile 2023-2024 shows that the estimated number of enrolments increased by 19% from two years previously. The Tusla register of services demonstrates a net increase in the number of registered early learning and childcare services in 2024. However, as we know, demand for early learning and childcare remains higher than available supply, particularly for younger children and in certain parts of the country. I accept the Deputy’s point in this regard. Demand for early learning and childcare beyond sessional preschool provision is highly elastic and shaped very substantially by families' individual composition, circumstances and preferences; employment patterns and income; and the price and availability of services.

Last year, a supply management unit was established in the Department of Children, Disability and Equality, and the programme for Government articulates an intention that it be resourced and transformed into a forward planning and delivery unit to identify areas of need, forecast demand and deliver public supply where required. A forward planning model is in development in the unit and will be central to the Minister’s plans to achieve the policy goals set out in the programme for Government to build an affordable, high-quality and accessible early learning and childcare system, with State-led facilities adding capacity.

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. Core funding, which is in its third programme year, funds services based on the number of places available. This provides stability to services and reduces the risk associated with opening a new service or expanding an already existing service.

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, early childhood care and education age range for full day care. Core funding partner services could apply for capital funding to physically extend their premises or to construct or purchase new premises. The Minister was delighted to announce earlier this month the 49 applications that will be progressing to the next stage of the building blocks extension grant scheme. These 49 applications come from a mix of community extension, private extension, community purchasing and community construction projects. When completed, these projects will deliver almost 1,500 additional full-time childcare places for one to three-year-olds. Three services in County Kildare were among those that were successful and will progress to the next stage of the process.

Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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I thank the Minister of State for that comprehensive reply, which I appreciate. I am certainly struck by the piece regarding the forward planning model, which is something I and other colleagues on the children committee will be looking for more detail on. It would add breadth and meat to the bones of how the programme for Government is going to achieve its ambitious targets with regard to childcare and early years education.

The Minister of State appropriately summed up that the issues are comprehensive. Since becoming the spokesperson for my party on children, I have met many different stakeholders with regard to childcare and early years education. The theme has been consistent throughout those meetings. What we often have from the Government is a commitment to funding, which is to be applauded, but what is lacking is a vision for the future of childcare. If the Minister of State takes one thing away to the Department on my behalf, it is that the children committee, or even a special committee, could be assigned by the Government to support that mapping piece with regard to a vision for the future of childcare and early years education that is cognisant of all of the factors the Minister of State raised in her response being captured. This could come back again, much like Sláintecare has done with regard to healthcare. If something similar could be captured in the life of the Thirty-fourth Dáil, it would be a real opportunity for us as a cross-party initiative.

I again thank the Minister of State and the Government for such a comprehensive reply and for the opportunity to speak on this issue. It is greatly appreciated.

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy and I hear what he has said. He spoke about vision. What I can say is that the Government is committed to building an affordable, high-quality and accessible early learning and childcare system. Although the Deputy said it is not enough, the programme for Government commits for the first time to provide capital investment to build or purchase State-owned early learning and childcare facilities to create additional capacity in areas where unmet need exists. State ownership of facilities is a substantial and significant development and offers the potential for much greater scope to influence the nature and volume of provision available and to ensure better alignment with estimated demand. Some early scoping work has been carried out to explore options to introduce a segment of public provision. This will require much more detailed and extensive policy development and design in order to progress to implementation stage, having regard to the wider emerging policy context as set out in the programme for Government.

The Department funds 30 city or county childcare committees, which provide support and assist families and early learning and childcare providers. The network of 30 city or county childcare committees can assist in identifying vacant places in services for children and families who need them and engage proactively with services to explore possibilities for expansion among services, particularly where there is unmet need. Parents experiencing difficulty in relation to their early learning and childcare needs should contact their local city or county childcare committee for assistance.

I hope the response has been of some assistance to the Deputy.