Results 961-980 of 20,818 for speaker:Norma Foley

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (17 Jun 2025)

Norma Foley: I thank Deputies Cooney and McAuliffe. I will go to the last question first. The building blocks scheme has been positively welcomed and will deliver an additional 1,500 places, which is hugely important. The budget available for that was €25 million and I appreciate this brings its own constraints but it is delivering 1,500 additional places. As I previously outlined, we are also...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (17 Jun 2025)

Norma Foley: I acknowledge the Deputy's question which specifically asks about after-school and general childcare places. Early learning and childcare capacity is increasing, which is an important point to make at the outset. The estimated number of enrolments increased by approximately 19% between 2022 and 2024. Enrolments in Cork county and city each increased by almost 29% in the same period....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (17 Jun 2025)

Norma Foley: I thank the Deputy. Every year it is normal for some services to open and for some services to close. The year 2024 saw a five-year high in the number of childcare services opening and a five-year low in the number of early learning and childcare services closing. A total of 357 services opened, while 131 services closed, which resulted in a net increase of 226 childcare services opening...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Childcare Services (17 Jun 2025)

Norma Foley: Obviously it is a core objective of the Government that we would maximise the number of providers in place. To do this we are lending support to private providers through schemes such as building blocks. We have also said we will step in where there is an absence of providers in an area. We are doing work on how this public model would look and what it would look like. Issues have been...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Childcare Services (17 Jun 2025)

Norma Foley: I thank the Deputy. Earlier this month, I announced the introduction of maximum fee caps for all partner services in core funding from September 2025. The fee freeze will remain in place for all partner services with fees below these caps. This is an important step towards the reduction of childcare fees to €200 per month over the lifetime of this Government. Maximum fee caps...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Childcare Services (17 Jun 2025)

Norma Foley: I want to be clear. This is a commitment over the lifetime of the Government. The more quickly we take steps the better, and the more quickly we will be able to deliver. In the fewer than five months during which the Government has been in office, we have taken the first very significant step regarding fee caps. We should not underestimate the significance of fee caps. Families who,...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Childcare Services (17 Jun 2025)

Norma Foley: I have always been very clear that this is like a triangle. There is no point in reducing fees if there are no places for children to attend, and there is no point in having children available and reduced fees if we do not have staff who will work in the sector. There are three elements to this. On having sufficient places, I want to be clear. Sufficient funding has been provided by...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Early Childhood Care and Education (17 Jun 2025)

Norma Foley: I acknowledge that many early learning and childcare services report recruitment and retention challenges. In general, these challenges are not caused by insufficient supply of staff, but by high levels of turnover. Data from the sector profile survey shows a turnover rate of 24.5% in 2023, with almost one third of the turnover rate due to staff moving from one provider to another. I note...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Early Childhood Care and Education (17 Jun 2025)

Norma Foley: There is agreement across the House that money ring-fenced for staff should go to staff. I acknowledge that has been Deputy Kerrane’s personal view from the beginning. I met joint labour committee representatives today and I have met them previously. While they are entirely independent of me, it is important I take every opportunity, as the Deputy has, to articulate that money on...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Early Childhood Care and Education (17 Jun 2025)

Norma Foley: I will absolutely know a lot when this process concludes. I have always been clear that there are two elements to this, namely, the providers and the employees. One cannot work without the other. They must work together in the best interests of the children we serve. The mechanism we have currently, as the Deputy has outlined, is the joint labour committee. We have all made our views...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (17 Jun 2025)

Norma Foley: In a very competitive labour market and with low levels of unemployment, recruitment and retention is a challenge for all employers, especially in low-paid sectors. Data from the 2023 Annual Early Years Sector Profile survey shows the national turnover rate for the sector was approximately 25%, however the turnover rate of Community service was significantly lower at approximately 20%. I...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Family Resource Centres (17 Jun 2025)

Norma Foley: The number of applications received for inclusion in the Family Resource Centre Programme is forty-nine. The expansion of the Family Resource Centre Programme was made possible in Budget 2025 because my Department secured additional funding for the Programme. This funding will allow for membership of the Programme to increase from 121 members to 126 members in 2025. This is in line with...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Child and Family Agency (17 Jun 2025)

Norma Foley: I welcome the publication of the Tusla commissioned Report of the External Review Group on Special Care. The External Review Group was tasked with examining the operation of special care services in Ireland and the report details several recommendations for its future delivery. A number of these recommendations relate to staff remuneration, retention and recruitment. Officials from my...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (17 Jun 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 my Department can set wage levels or...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (17 Jun 2025)

Norma Foley: Earlier this month, I announced the introduction of maximum fee caps for all Partner Services in Core Funding from September 2025. The fee freeze will remain in place for all Partner Services with fees below these caps. This is an important step towards the reduction of childcare fees to €200 per month over the lifetime of this Government. Maximum fee caps were introduced for new...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (17 Jun 2025)

Norma Foley: Early learning and childcare capacity is increasing nationally. Core Funding data shows that between Year 1 and Year 3 of the scheme, annual place hours increased by over 15% and the estimated number of enrolments increased by approximately 19% between 2022 and 2024. Enrolments in Kildare increased by almost 22% over the same period. Moreover, data from the Tusla shows there was an...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Schools Building Projects (17 Jun 2025)

Norma Foley: The Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme was launched last year and closed for applications in January. There were four strands to the scheme: Community Construction, Community Extension, Community Purchasing and Private Extension. A total of 78 applications were received. The applications came from a variety of locations across the country. All applications received were appraised...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Family Resource Centres (17 Jun 2025)

Norma Foley: I am aware that there are no members of the FRC Programme based in the town of Dungarvan. While the Family Resource Centre Programme is a community development programme that is financially supported by many State agencies in a partnership approach, I feel it is important to acknowledge that there many initiatives that operate in communities, delivering services comparable to those...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Mother and Baby Homes (17 Jun 2025)

Norma Foley: Following receipt and publication of the Report from the Independent Negotiator, Ms Sheila Nunan, I made contact with each of the relevant religious organisations referred to in that Report. The Deputy will be aware that of the eight organisations mentioned in the Report, only two made offers of a voluntary contribution to the Mother and Baby Homes Payment Scheme. My officials have...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (17 Jun 2025)

Norma Foley: Earlier this month, I announced a maximum fee cap for services joining Core Funding that will apply to all services in Core Funding from September 2025. Under the new fee caps, the maximum fee allowed for a Core Funding Partner Service will be €295 per week for a full day place of between 40 and 50 hours per week. These fees are reduced by State subsidies under the National Childcare...