Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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1237. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth her views on how we can continue to build up the Equal Start Programme, ensuring children experiencing disadvantage will access and participate fully in early learning and childcare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30381/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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In September 2024, my Department commenced the rollout of Equal Start, a major model of supports to ensure children experiencing disadvantage can access and meaningfully participate in early learning and childcare.

Equal Start includes a suite of universal, child-targeted and setting-targeted supports to ensure every child, and every early learning and childcare setting will benefit from a continuum of supports that reflects a continuum of need.

Children to benefit from child-targeted supports include children living in disadvantaged areas, Traveller children, Roma children, children availing of the National Childcare Scheme through a sponsor body, children experiencing homelessness and children in the International Protection system.

Equal Start supports will be fully rolled out in three phases over a five-year period, with full implementation within the lifetime of First 5 – by 2028.

Services with the highest level of need have been targeted in the early phases. 769 settings (serving 35,000 children - 4,700 from priority cohorts) identified as operating in a context of concentrated disadvantage have been given ‘priority designation’. Since September 2024, these settings have been receiving funding for additional staff that can be used to support engagement between the settings and families, as well as other child and family support services. Funding also provides Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School-Aged Childcare (SAC) to children with higher levels of need.

The key Equal Start initiatives to be rolled out over the first 2 years will include:

• Design and rollout of an Additional Nutrition Programme
• Rollout of the Traveller Parenting Support Programme in 17 Tusla areas, with responsibilities for Family Link Workers to engage with Traveller parents of young children, supporting them to attend and participate in ELC and SAC.
• Appointment of Traveller and Roma Advisory Specialists to work in Better Start to promote inclusive ELC and SAC.
• Review and updating of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Guidelines and associated training.
• Development of a new Family Community Liaison role and associated training.
• Roll-out of Early Talk Boost – an intervention for language delay – to settings with a priority designation.
• Development of guidance and supports for services to participate in inter-agency cooperation, such as Meitheal.