Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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306. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to report on her Department's engagement with the planning and building unit of the Department of Education and Youth, regarding the development of State-led childcare facilities in tandem with the school building programme; the number of meetings that have taken place; the dates when these meetings took place; the main findings of each of the meetings; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35146/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Programme for Government sets out the ambition to work with schools to host before and after-school childcare in school buildings as well as planning the development of State-led early learning and childcare facilities in tandem with the school building programme, specifically referencing Irish medium naíonraí.

Officials have met a number of times with officials from the Department of Education’s Planning and Building Unit with a view to sharing expertise and information between the Departments and identify opportunities for future developments.

A meeting took place on 4 March 2025 between senior officials in my Department and officials in the planning and building unit in the Department of Education and Youth. Matters discussed at this meeting included areas of shared interest, such as capital programme management, forward planning, and the current and future use of school buildings for early learning and childcare services.

A meeting took place on 28 April 2025 between relevant officials, which focussed on the Statutory Plan engagement process undertaken by the Department of Education and Youth.

In addition to these specific meetings, the relevant officials have also engaged a number of times on related matters, particularly through the Early Learning and Childcare Planning Matters Working Group and in relation to existing services' use of school buildings.

The potential for development of State-led facilities in tandem with the school building programme will be considered as part of the wider capital plans to develop State-led services. The Programme for Government commits for the first time to provide capital investment to build or purchase state-owned early learning and childcare facilities, to create additional capacity in areas where unmet need exists. State ownership of facilities is a very substantial and significant development and offers the potential for much greater scope to influence the nature and volume of provision available and to ensure better alignment with estimated demand.

This work forms part of my Department’s contribution to the review of the National Development Plan which will set out the capital allocation to underpin this work in the coming years. There has 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 approach more widely to ensuring appropriate levels of early learning and childcare supply is being considered by my Department and will be further articulated in the context of the Action Plan to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early childhood education and care system that Government is committed to publishing.