Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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1231. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the engagements he has had with organisations regarding the national childcare scheme; his views on the state of readiness of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41052/21]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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My Department has had ongoing engagement with a number of organisations representing the early learning and childcare sector prior to, and since the launch of the National Childcare Scheme (NCS). 

In recent months, my Department has conducted a number of stakeholder consultations to gain further insights into their experience of the NCS. The stakeholder consultations were established to give providers with the opportunity to engage in a structured consultation and discussion process, identifying any concerns and opportunities to further support the operation and development of the NCS.

As part of the review of the NCS, which is currently underway, there was a survey of providers and parents and data gathered from these surveys are currently being analysed. A number of stakeholder interviews were also conducted as part of this review, involving interviews across provider organisations and representative bodies. 

More broadly and as part of the development of a new funding model for the early learning and childcare sector, there has been considerable engagement with providers, parents and other stakeholders. The NCS was among a range of issues raised in the course of this work.