Shane Moynihan (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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85. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will consider the construction or acquisition of State-owned childcare facilities in Dublin mid-west, given the high demand for places locally, and in the context of Programme for Government commitments on the delivery of public childcare infrastructure; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49905/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Programme for Government commits for the first time to provision of early learning and childcare through State-led facilities adding capacity in areas where unmet need exists.

State ownership of facilities is a very substantial and significant development and offers the potential to influence the nature and volume of provision available and to ensure better alignment with estimated demand.

Early scoping work has been carried out to explore options to introduce a segment of State-led provision. More detailed and extensive policy development and design is ongoing in order to progress to implementation stage, having regard to the wider emerging policy context as set out in the Programme for Government.

The development of State-led early learning and childcare services will be enabled by capital allocation provided in the revised National Development Plan 2026-2030.

This work is being led by a new Forward Planning and Delivery Unit which has received additional resources. The unit 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 key aspect of the preparatory work being undertaken by the unit is the development of a forward planning model. The forward planning model draws on administrative data to map the child population and location of funded services, and GIS mapping tools to model the link between children and available services. This will enable the identification and comparison of areas of need with a consistent methodology.

These new initiatives build on the framework for reform of the sector which was set out in Partnership for the Public Good, the 2021 report of an Expert Group which was established to develop a new funding model for the sector. The key theme of the recommendations in the report was to strengthen State involvement and enhanced public management in the sector, in conjunction with increased State funding. This has led to significantly improved affordability for parents, better pay for staff and significantly increased supply although demand for early learning and childcare remains higher than available supply in certain parts of the country, particularly for younger children.

The introduction of the Core Funding scheme and its associated conditionality including in relation to staff pay and fee management; developments to the National Childcare Scheme and the Access and Inclusion Model; and the establishment of Equal Start represent the implementation of several of the specific recommendations in the report and serve as a strong foundation for further work now to deliver State-led early learning and childcare.

The approach to ensuring appropriate levels of early learning and childcare supply, including through State-led facilities, 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 the Government is committed to publishing.