Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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88. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if Fingal has been identified as a priority area by the forward planning unit; the criteria used to determine such prioritisation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [61499/25]

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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I have mentioned many times that Fingal is the youngest area in the country and is also the fastest growing. Balbriggan is the youngest large town in the country and yet, we have a serious lack of childcare places. In January 2024, a supply management unit was set up in the Minister's Department. It was later renamed the forward planning unit yet nearly two years later, families in Fingal are still waiting. We still have no visible output from the Minister's forward planning unit. Can the Minister please tell us when we will see some output, if Fingal is going to be prioritised and when we can see more childcare places delivered?

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Improving access to quality and affordable early learning and childcare is a key priority of the Government. Overall, early learning and childcare capacity is increasing. Data from the annual early years sector profile in 2024 shows the estimated number of enrolments has increased by 19% in the previous two years. However, it appears that demand for early learning and childcare remains higher than available supply in certain parts of the country, particularly for younger children.

The development of the forward planning model is currently under way using the expertise of statisticians on secondment from the Central Statistics Office and other specialists. The model seeks to identify the nature and volume of different types of early learning and childcare places across the country and how that aligns with the numbers of children in the corresponding age cohorts at local level. An extensive data analysis and cleaning exercise is currently being undertaken to map available publicly subsidised supply. This involves combining data from multiple administrative sources, including child population data, using GIS mapping tools.

The analysis of the forward planning model will provide a key input into the approach to the capital programme to be resourced through the allocation in the revised national development plan for 2026 to 2030. It will be one of a number of factors considered when selecting and prioritising projects. Other factors will reflect the policy goals of the Department to support a high quality, inclusive and accessible early learning and childcare system and to ensure value for money.

The forward planning model is being designed primarily as a tool for internal analysis. The maps and data the model will produce will contain projected categories of data and will therefore not be made generally available in full. As the model is further developed along with accompanying policy work related to supply, aggregated statistics, including statistics broken down by geographical area, may be made available if this is deemed compliant with data protection obligations. Preparatory work for this programme of capital investment is under way and the programme is planned to commence in line with the revised NDP allocation from 2026 onwards. As such, no decisions on prioritisation or targeting of certain geographic areas have been made yet.

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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It is nearly two years. There has to be a sense of urgency by this unit. We need to see a plan from it and we need to see a clear timeline as to when we are going to see outputs. I am not asking for the specifics but I am asking to make sure this Department is delivering. Two years is simply not good enough. People who need childcare are putting off their lives and quitting jobs. They are not participating fully in the workforce. We have discussed this before but female participation in the workforce has been one of Ireland's biggest economic drivers in the past 40 years. Childcare is an essential economic infrastructure. We have to move with a sense of urgency. Unfortunately, I do not see it coming from this unit. I appreciate internal work takes time. There are ways to get around GDPR with data sharing agreements, etc. We know the areas that are the youngest in the country and we know the areas that need to be prioritised. Why is it taking two years?

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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To be quite honest with the Deputy, I am not sure where the two years is coming out of. I am speaking on the programme for Government for this Government. The Deputy is aware it was this Government that put into the programme for Government the commitment to deliver State-led facilities - not the last Government, this one. As this Government has been in place for less than nine months, I am at a loss to understand her timeline.

Specifically for delivery, the work of the forward planning unit must be allowed to continue.

Specific funding has been made available for 2026. I have given a commitment that in 2026 the public-led model will begin its journey, as it were. Some €36 million in capital funding is available for 2026. This will allow for a variety of things, including the acquisition of new builds, the expansion of existing facilities or whatever the case might be. In 2026, it is anticipated that this public model will deliver between 600 and 800 places. It will facilitate seven or eight new, specific, public-led models as the first step in a journey that will be completed over the lifetime of the Government.

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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I appreciate that the Minister has only been in her position for nine months, but the Secretary General of the Department confirmed to me that the supply management unit or forward planning unit was set up in January 2024. It is nearly two years later and we still have not seen any visible output from this unit. Will the Minister commit to publishing the criteria that will be used by the forward planning unit, confirm that areas like Fingal are going to be included and will meet the criteria, and set out a timeline for when we can see more childcare places actually delivered on the ground?

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Let us be clear: when it was first conceived, the forward planning unit had absolutely nothing to do with the State-led model. The State-led model is an innovation of this Government, which is in place less than nine months. The Deputy is conflating two things that have nothing to do with each other. Let us have absolute clarity about that in terms of the timeline the Deputy is talking about. The Government is committed to delivering the State-led model, beginning this year, as part of a five-year Government commitment. We will do that work. We are committed to beginning that work and having the State-led model beginning to be in place in 2026. It will deliver, as I have said, somewhere between 600 and 800 places, depending on how many of the specific services we can put in place. That will be somewhere between six and eight services and we will build on this year on year as we go on.

In terms of other supports that are being provided for, other resources have been put in place in the Fingal area. Two services in Fingal have been shortlisted in 2025 for the building blocks model, one in Clonsilla and one in Lusk. Some €334,375 is being made available under the private extension strand to support additional places being provided. The State-led model is a new initiative and will take time. We have begun the work and we will see it materialise in 2026.