Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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101. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if families availing of a childminder coming to their family home can qualify for the national childcare scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32433/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The National Childcare Scheme provides subsidies – both universal and targeted - to reduce the costs to parents for children to participate in early learning and childcare. The Childcare Support Act 2018, which provides a statutory basis for the National Childcare Scheme, specifies that only Tusla-registered providers are eligible to participate in the Scheme. The limitation of public funding schemes to Tusla-registered providers helps to ensure that public funding is provided where there is assurance of the quality of provision.

The National Action Plan for Childminding 2021-2028 set out a pathway for the extension of registration to childminders. A key objective of the National Action Plan for Childminding is to enable parents who use childminders to benefit from State subsidies through the National Childcare Scheme. As a result of the commencement of the relevant parts of the Child Care (Amendment) Act 2024 and the Childminding Services Regulations, which came into effect on 30 September 2024, childminders are now able to apply to register with Tusla and can therefore also take part in the National Childcare Scheme.

The Child Care (Amendment) Act 2024, enacted and part commenced last year defines a “childminding service” 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 family home.

The National Action Plan for Childminding 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, au pair or babysitter. This distinction is also reflected in the legal definition of a childminder set out in the primary legislation.

Childminders now have a three-year transition period (to September 2027) during which they are able to register with Tusla but are not yet required to do so. Once registered with Tusla, a childminder can apply to take part in the National Childcare Scheme, thus opening access to subsidies to parents who use childminders.

During the transition period, supports are available for childminders at local level through the City and County Childcare Committees. Each City and County Childcare Committee employs a Childminding Development Officer, who provides a range of supports to local childminders, including a short pre-registration training course.

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.

Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)
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102. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the actions she is taking to expand capacity in the childcare sector, particularly in rural areas; the actions she intends to take to address long waiting lists for childcare facilities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32257/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Improving access to quality and affordable Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare is a key priority of Government.

Early learning and childcare capacity is increasing. Data from the Annual Early Years Sector Profile 2023/24 shows that the estimated number of enrolments increased by approximately 19% from the 2021/22 programme year. Core Funding application data shows that between Year 1 and Year 3 of the scheme, annual place hours increased by over 15%. The Tusla register of services demonstrates a net increase in the numbers of registered early learning and childcare services in 2024. However, it appears that demand for early learning and childcare remains higher than available supply, particularly for younger children and in certain parts of the country.

Demand for early learning and childcare beyond sessional pre-school provision is highly elastic and shaped very substantially by families' individual composition, circumstances, and preferences; employment patterns and income; and the price and availability of services.

A Forward Planning and Delivery Unit in my Department has been allocated additional resources and is focused on identifying areas of need, forecasting demand, and planning for the delivery of public supply within the early learning and childcare sector where required.

A forward planning model is in development which will be central to my Department's plans to achieve the policy goals set out in the Programme for Government to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early childhood education and care system, with State-led facilities adding capacity.

My Department continues to support the ongoing development and resourcing of Core Funding which has given rise to a significant expansion of places since the scheme was first introduced. Core Funding, which is in its third programme year, funds services based on the number of places available.

This provides stability to services, and reduces the risk associated with opening a new service or expanding an already existing service. For the current programme year, the allocation for Core Funding allows for a 6% increase in capacity. Additional funding was secured in Budget 2025 to facilitate a further 3.5% increase from September 2025, in the fourth programme year.

The Government is also supporting the expansion of capacity through capital funding. The Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme is designed to increase capacity in the 1–3-year-old, pre–Early Childhood Care and Education, age range for full day care. Core Funding Partner services could apply for capital funding to physically extend their premises or to construct or purchase new premises.

I was delighted to announce recently the 49 applications which will be progressing to the next stage of the Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme. These 49 applications come from a mix of Community Extension (24), Private Extension (7), Community Purchasing (4) and Community Construction (14) projects, which, when completed, will deliver almost 1,500 additional full time childcare places for 1–3-year olds across the country. I look forward to seeing how these projects progress over the coming months.

My Department funds 30 City/County Childcare Committees, which provide support and assist families and early learning and childcare providers. The network of 30 City/County Childcare Committees across the country can assist in identifying vacant places in services for children and families who need them and engage proactively with services to explore possibilities for expansion among services, particularly where there is unmet need.

Parents experiencing difficulty in relation to their early learning and childcare needs should contact their local City/County Childcare Committee for assistance.

Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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103. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if her Department has plans to expand the childcare capital grant for the development of new childcare facilities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32305/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Ensuring access to early learning and childcare is a key priority of Government. Capital funding is one way that Government supports capacity expansion.

The Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme was launched on 4th November 2024. The closing date for applications was 30th January and a total of 78 applications were received from across the country. 49 of these applicants have been successful in progression to the next stage of the process.

€25m in voted expenditure is available for the Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme in 2025. The approach to capital investment in future years is being considered within the context of the Programme for Government commitments and the revision to the National Development Plan which is ongoing.

Consideration in this regard is being given to the the possibility for future capital programmes, including potentially operating a further to support the expansion of provision.

There have been a range of engagements at official and political level to inform the update National Development Plan between my Department and the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform. My officials and I are continuing to engage with colleagues across Government on the review, the outcome of which will determine the timing and scale of future capital investment initiatives.