Results 21-40 of 20,818 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Childcare Services (14 Oct 2025)

Norma Foley: Improving access to quality and affordable Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare is a key priority of Government. A Forward Planning and Delivery Unit is undertaking important work to identify areas of need, forecast demand, and prepare for the delivery of public supply of early learning and childcare sector in areas where it is required. A forward planning model is in...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Childcare Services (14 Oct 2025)

Norma Foley: Improving access to quality and affordable Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare is a key priority of Government. Early learning and childcare capacity is increasing. Data from the Annual Early Years Sector Profile 2023/24 shows that the estimated number of enrolments increased by approximately 19% from the 2021/22 programme year. Core Funding application data shows that between...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Childcare Services (14 Oct 2025)

Norma Foley: The Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme was launched on late 2024. The closing date for applications was 30th January. There were four strands to the scheme: Community Construction, Community Extension, Community Purchasing and Private Extension. A total of 78 applications were received with 50 applicants approved to progress to the next stage of the grant process. As part of the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Childcare Services (14 Oct 2025)

Norma Foley: The Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme was launched in late 2024. The closing date for applications was 30th January. There were four strands to the scheme: Community Construction, Community Extension, Community Purchasing and Private Extension. A total of 78 applications were received with 50 successful applicants approved to progress to the next stage of the grant process. One...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Research Funding (14 Oct 2025)

Norma Foley: This is a matter for my cabinet colleague, the Minister for Health.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Disabilities Assessments (14 Oct 2025)

Norma Foley: As this question refers to the service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Departmental Expenditure (14 Oct 2025)

Norma Foley: Officials in the Department are engaging with the relevant aegis bodies to collate the information requested. A reply will issue directly to the Deputy in respect of the Department's position as well as the aegis bodies as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Early Childhood Care and Education (14 Oct 2025)

Norma Foley: The Government is committed to ensuring access to affordable, quality early learning and care (ELC) and school-age childcare (SAC), with an investment of €1.48bn in the 2026 budget. This funding will allow my Department to build on recent progress in the gradual reduction of fees for parents, while also supporting supply and the quality of provision. New caps on maximum fees came into...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: EU Presidency (14 Oct 2025)

Norma Foley: As the Member State holding the Presidency of the Council of the EU, Ireland will have the responsibility for progressing the EU agenda for the second half of 2026. The Presidency will also provide an opportunity to spotlight issues where we have special expertise, and Ireland is a world-leader on child and youth participation. During Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the EU,...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Disabilities Assessments (14 Oct 2025)

Norma Foley: This Government recognises that waiting times for Assessment of Need (AON) are too long and have a significant impact on delivering on the needs of children and their families. Both this Department and the HSE are committed to reducing the timeframes for assessment and have been working intensively to progress measures to achieve this. It is important to emphasise that, while children...

Financial Resolutions 2025 - Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (8 Oct 2025)

Norma Foley: Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, as an am agus an deis a thabhairt dom labhairt ar bhuiséad 2026.. I welcome the opportunity to address the House this evening on the key elements of the budget 2026 allocation for the Department of Children, Disability and Equality. This is the first of five budgets where we begin the journey to achieve a number of key objectives. The...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Early Childhood Care and Education (8 Oct 2025)

Norma Foley: Pay is one of a number of issues impacting the early learning and care and school-age childcare workforce. The level of pay for early years educators and school-age childcare practitioners does not reflect the value of their work for children, families, society and the economy. As the State is not the employer of staff in the sector, neither I nor the Department can set wage levels or...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Paternity Leave (8 Oct 2025)

Norma Foley: Significant improvements have been made in the entitlements to both paid and unpaid leaves in recent years, including by extending paid parent's leave for parents to allow them to spend more time with their baby during their earliest years. The Paternity Leave and Benefit Act 2016 provides the relevant parent (other than the mother of the child) with 2 weeks paid paternity leave. Under...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: After-School Support Services (8 Oct 2025)

Norma Foley: Improving access to quality and affordable Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare is a key priority of Government. The early learning and childcare sector has expanded significantly in recent years; enrolments increased by 19% between 2022 and 2024 and registrations of new services have increased. This is particularly the case with school age childcare services with 261 new...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: After-School Support Services (8 Oct 2025)

Norma Foley: The National Childcare Scheme (NCS) provides financial support to help parents reduce the cost of early learning and childcare in the form of a subsidy paid directly to the childcare provider. Subsidies are available for children aged between 24 weeks and 15 years of age. The minimum rate available to all families in Ireland is €2.14 per hour, which is available for up to 45 weekly...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Rights of the Child (8 Oct 2025)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 299 and 301 together. The Government is firmly committed to ratifying the Second Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Ireland signed the Second Optional Protocol in 2000, and the Government is committed to taking the further step of ratifying it as soon as possible. In Irish treaty practice, the State must be in a position...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Early Childhood Care and Education (8 Oct 2025)

Norma Foley: The 2001 Planning Guidelines for Local Authorities on Early Learning and Childcare Settings were issued under section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000. The Guidelines are intended to ensure a consistent approach to the treatment of planning applications in respect to the land use planning aspects of early learning and childcare provision. The Programme for Government...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Childcare Services (7 Oct 2025)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 499 and 500 together. The National Childcare Scheme (NCS) provides financial support to help parents reduce the cost of early learning and childcare. Subsidies are available for children aged between 24 weeks and 15 years of age. The minimum rate available to all families in Ireland is €2.14 per hour, which is available for up to 45 weekly hours....

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Early Childhood Care and Education (7 Oct 2025)

Norma Foley: Data on Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare service providers is captured through administrative data on the Early Years Platform (EYP). The below table provides a summary of the number of service providers by size based on the number of children registered in the service for any Department funded programme (ECCE, NCS and CCSP)*. The data are captured at 1 June for each of the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Early Childhood Care and Education (7 Oct 2025)

Norma Foley: In March 2022 Government accepted the findings of the independent Review of the Early Learning and Childcare Operating Model in Ireland that a dedicated state agency is the optimal operating model for the early learning and childcare sector for the years ahead. It is envisaged that this agency will undertake the functions currently carried out by Pobal Early Years (including Better Start),...