Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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1973. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality her plans to deal with the situation where a parents parental leave is over but there are no childcare places available for very young children (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46168/25]

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.

First 5 is Ireland’s Whole-of-Government Strategy for babies, young children and their families. It focuses on the period of early childhood, from the antenatal period to age five, and takes a joined-up, cross-government approach to supporting babies, young children and their families during these critical early years.

The Strategy has a pivotal focus on providing a broader range of options for parents to balance working and caring. Under First 5 parent’s leave and benefit was introduced and has progressively increased from 2019 to date.

Under First 5, from the 1st July 2022, Parent’s leave and benefit was extended to seven weeks per parent.

From August 2024 Parent’s Leave and Benefit was increased further to nine weeks per parent per child. This brings Ireland in line with the EU Work-Life Balance Directive which required member states to provide nine weeks of Parent’s Leave and Benefit by August 2024.

Parental leave also entitles parents to take unpaid leave from work to spend time looking after their children. The phased introduction of an additional eight weeks unpaid parental leave commenced in 2019, and rose from 22 to 26 working weeks in September 2020. The entitlement for Parental leave is up to 26 weeks of parental leave for each eligible child before their 12th birthday.

The combined durations of Maternity, Paternity and Parent’s Leave and Benefit now equate to 46 weeks paid leave for a two-parent family, supplemented by an entitlement to 16 weeks of unpaid Maternity Leave, and 26 weeks of unpaid parental leave per parent.

All forms of family leave are kept under review to ensure that they are effective in supporting families and children. Further supports will be considered in the context of the development of the new First 5 Implementation Plan for 2026-2028 in line with the Programme for Government commitments to both examine the extension of Parent’s Leave and Benefit, introduce Pay Related Parent’s Benefit (and to explore other payments where a similar model could be applied).

In relation to 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%. However, it appears that demand for early learning and childcare remains higher than available supply in certain parts of the country, particularly for younger children.

The 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. Additional funding was secured in Budget 2025 to facilitate a further 3.5% increase in capacity 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.

50 applications will be progressing to the next stage of the Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme. These 50 applications come from a mix of Community Extension (24), Private Extension (7), Community Purchasing (4) and Community Construction (15) projects, which, when completed, will deliver 1,500 additional full time childcare places for 1–3-year-olds. I look forward to seeing how these projects progress over the coming months.

A Forward Planning and Delivery Unit in my Department is focused on identifying areas of need, forecasting demand, and preparing for the delivery of public supply of early learning and childcare where required, as committed to in the Programme for Government.

A forward planning model is in development which will be central to the 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.

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. The National Development Plan sets out the capital allocation to underpin this work in the coming years.

The Department also 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.