Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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128. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to outline the actions her Department has taken on updating the Childcare Facilities: Guidelines for Local Authorities, to date in 2025; to provide a date on when the new guidelines will be published; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20981/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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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 consistency of approach throughout the country to the treatment of applications in respect to the land use planning aspects of early learning and childcare provision, for relevant planning applications.

One element of the Guidelines is that new communities and larger new housing developments should include an early learning and childcare facility. This requirement has led to the delivery of capacity in new housing developments.

However, my Department is aware that there are instances where the building provided has not been put to use for its intended purpose, and in some instances remains vacant. There are many potential reasons for this. The price for the building sought by the developer may be too high for operators. Facilities tend to also require capital investment to fit out the building for use as a service. There may be instances where the design of the building is not conducive to its optimal use as an early learning and childcare service. There may be cases where the developer seeks permission for a change of use.

While the 2001 Planning Guidelines have certainly contributed to the coming on stream of a considerable number of early learning and childcare facilities, I recognise that the Guidelines require updating to ensure that they are fit for purpose and can deliver the type of infrastructure required in future years. Key considerations will include the treatment of apartments in the determining of the level of early learning and childcare provision required and the size and design specifications of facilities required to be delivered.

My Department is currently engaging with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to examine and review the 2001 Planning Guidelines for Local Authorities on Early Learning and Childcare Settings with a view to updating them. A Working Group is in place between these Departments, as well as the Department of Education, to progress this project. It was established in 2024 and has been meeting in 2024 and 2025.

The first step towards revising the guidelines will be to engage with Local Authorities with experience of applying the guidelines to understand their impact and issues arising. My Department has requested that Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage undertake an audit of early learning and childcare facilities which have been granted planning permission in order to identify whether facilities have been built and whether facilities are operational. The findings of this process will inform the scale and content of revisions to the guidelines.