Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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233. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if she is aware that there is no definition for Naíonraí (Irish immersion early years education) and no public directory of locations of Naíonraí for parents seeking this option for their child; if she will rectify this as part of the Comprehensive Action Plan to further the development of Irish Language Provision in Early Learning and Care settings and Childcare for School-Aged Children; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17950/25]

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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234. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to provide an update on the Comprehensive Action Plan to further the development of Irish Language Provision in Early Learning and Care settings and Childcare for School-Aged Children; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17951/25]

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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235. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if she will provide a draft copy of the Comprehensive Action Plan to further the development of Irish Language Provision in Early Learning and Care settings and Childcare for School-Aged Children; the persons or bodies engaged with as part of the process to ensure that the action plan is collaborative and has the support of the sector to ensure its success; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17952/25]

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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236. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if she is aware of the drastic fall in Naíonraí outside of Gaeltacht areas across the State; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17953/25]

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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237. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if she will consider bringing back mentoring of Naíonraí as was previously in place; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17954/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 233, 234, 235, 236 and 237 together.

My Department is working in collaboration with other relevant Departments and agencies to develop a national plan to further the development of Irish language provision in the Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School-Age Childcare (SAC) sector. The following table sets out the organisations and networks that have participated as members of an inter-agency advisory group on development of the plan.

The development of such a plan is a commitment in the 5-Year Action Plan for the Irish Language. The national plan is expected to support the delivery of two commitments in First 5: the Whole-of-Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and their Families: “Introduce measures to ensure that children in Gaeltacht areas have access to Irish-medium ELC provision” and “Develop mechanisms to provide Irish-language supports to ELC provision where there are high proportions of children who are learning through the medium of Irish”. The plan is also expected to support the delivery of commitments in the Programme for Government to: “Support naíonraí and creches to ensure early education access in Gaeltacht communities and beyond” and “Plan the development of State-led facilities in tandem with the school building programme, including Irish-medium naíonraí”.

A survey of Irish-medium ELC/SAC settings including childminders was undertaken in 2022-2023 to obtain a baseline of the current level of Irish-medium provision in the sector. In addition, a public consultation and a programme of research, including a literature review, took place in 2024. A consultation with children is nearing completion.

In addition to the focus on Irish-medium ELC and SAC services, it is anticipated that the new national plan will also include measures to support English-medium ELC services to work within the updated Aistear early childhood curriculum framework, which was published in December 2024. The updated Aistear includes an aim of supporting young children to have an awareness and appreciation of Gaeilge and our cultural and linguistic heritage.

With regard to the Deputy’s query about the definition of ‘naíonra’ and a directory of Irish-medium ELC and SAC services, currently my Department uses the term “Irish-medium setting” to encompass the range of pre-school, full daycare and school-age childcare settings that use the Irish language in their interactions with children. Information on all ELC and SAC settings is available publicly on the Tusla register of early years services. My Department does not currently hold a directory of naíonraí or Irish-medium settings. My Department, through Pobal, does collect self-reported data on services’ language profile, to distinguish: wholly Irish-medium settings; mixed settings where part of the setting is English-medium and part of the setting is Irish-medium; English-medium settings with some use of Irish; and wholly English-medium settings.

Possible actions suggested by the Deputy, such as defining ‘naíonra’, mentoring of naíonraí services and the publication of a public directory of Irish-medium ELC and SAC services, will be considered during the process of developing the Plan.

It is intended that the Plan will be published later in 2025.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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238. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if new childminding regulations are to be extended to nannies and au pairs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17955/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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My priority for childminding is the continued delivery of the National Action Plan for Childminding 2021-2028.

The publication of the National Action Plan in April 2021 followed an extensive process of public consultation and research. The National Action Plan distinguishes childminding which involves care in the childminder’s home from care that takes place in the child’s home, which may be carried out by a nanny or au pair. This distinction is also reflected in the legal definition of a “childminding service”, set out in the primary legislation, the Child Care Act 1991, as amended by the Child Care (Amendment) Act 2024, as follows:

‘childminding service’ means a service that—

"(a) entails an individual taking care, by himself or herself, of children under the age of 15 years, in the home of the individual, and

(b) is provided to children (other than that individual’s own children) for a total period of not less than 2 hours per day."

In line with this definition, a primary feature of a childminder is that they undertake the work in the childminder's home.

The childminding-specific Regulations, which came into effect last September, are designed to be proportionate and appropriate to the home and family setting in which childminders work.

The legal and regulatory context are different between childminders who work in the childminder’s home and someone who works in the child’s home (e.g. nannies and au pairs). For example, as au pairs and nannies work in the parents’/child’s home rather than their own home, they cannot be held responsible for the safety or suitability of that home for the purpose of early learning or childcare. Any regulation of nannies or au pairs would require a different regulatory approach.

While my Department has successfully completed Phase 1 of the National Action Plan, considerable challenges lie ahead during Phase 2 in supporting the large number of unregistered childminders to register with Tusla and take part in the National Childcare Scheme before the end of the transition period in 2027. Given the scale of the challenge that still remains, my priority is to deliver on the remaining phases of the National Action Plan in the coming years.

The National Action Plan does, however, commit to develop information and training resources in relation to nannies and au pairs. Information supports will address both legal requirements under employment law and advice for parents on what to look for in terms of quality of care and learning experiences that nannies and au pairs may offer. I expect work on this to commence this year.