Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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63. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he has initiated drafting of legislation for a childcare development agency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26055/24]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Significant progress has been made in advancing plans for a dedicated state agency for early learning childcare. It is envisaged that this agency will undertake the functions currently carried out by Pobal Early Years (including Better Start), the 30 City/County Childcare Committees, as well as operational functions currently undertaken by my Department.

A Programme Oversight Board has been established for the agency and is tasked with overseeing the analysis and design phase of the programme. This Board will ensure that proposals for a new agency are based on offering the best possible service to children and their families, educators and practitioners and service providers while ensuring value for money.

My Department is currently engaging with independent consultants who have been contracted to carry out a phase of research, analysis and stakeholder engagement to inform the design of the agency. This work, which is expected to take 18-24 months, is currently focused on information gathering, analysis and an initial design phase to take place throughout 2024 and 2025. A second phase relates to a more in-depth design and costing exercise to take place from 2025 and is scheduled to take 6-9 months. The work will culminate in a costed agency design, including the remit, organisational structure and service delivery model, which will be presented to Government for approval. It is envisaged that drafting of the enacting legislation will overlap with this detailed costing and design phase.

My Department is committed to ongoing consultation with all stakeholders throughout the design process. In that regard, a series of stakeholder consultation sessions have already been held with key stakeholders and valuable input has been received as part of a collaborative co-design process to develop a vision, mission and values for the agency. A report has been compiled from these consultations and has been circulated to participating stakeholders. A further series of stakeholder consultations ran over May and June linked to functions of the agency and consultations will continue throughout the lifetime of this programme.