Written answers
Tuesday, 4 November 2025
Department of Children, Disability and Equality
Childcare Services
Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context
1480. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of people on waiting lists for childcare, per county. [58016/25]
Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context
Each year, Pobal compiles data from Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) providers as part of the Early Years Sector Profile.
The most recently published capacity data for the 2023/24 programme year estimated that there were 234,597 children enrolled in ELC and SAC services nationally. This data also indicated that 41% of services had at least one vacant place and 48% had a waiting list.
It is important to note that waiting list data should not be used as a measure of overall demand for ELC and SAC places. While waiting list data can be used to give an indication of demand for places for a given age group or service type, not all services operate a waiting list. In addition, an individual child may be on multiple waiting lists in different services.
A breakdown by county is provided in the table below.
| County division | Estimated enrolments | % of services with at least one vacant place | % of services with a waiting list |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carlow | 2,729 | 45% | 64% |
| Cavan | 4,503 | 37% | 52% |
| Clare | 5,328 | 42% | 44% |
| Cork City | 9,171 | 45% | 43% |
| Cork County | 17,663 | 44% | 31% |
| Donegal | 8,913 | 48% | 42% |
| Dublin - Dublin City | 21,070 | 40% | 60% |
| Dublin - Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown | 10,095 | 29% | 63% |
| Dublin - Fingal | 14,734 | 34% | 51% |
| Dublin - South Dublin | 12,498 | 29% | 63% |
| Galway | 15,440 | 43% | 51% |
| Kerry | 7,585 | 52% | 40% |
| Kildare | 11,634 | 42% | 48% |
| Kilkenny | 4,617 | 41% | 49% |
| Laois | 4,885 | 43% | 42% |
| Leitrim | 1,936 | 51% | 38% |
| Limerick | 10,163 | 45% | 41% |
| Longford | 2,126 | 36% | 52% |
| Louth | 5,734 | 26% | 63% |
| Mayo | 5,962 | 47% | 32% |
| Meath | 9,361 | 49% | 44% |
| Monaghan | 4,716 | 29% | 64% |
| Offaly | 3,032 | 53% | 29% |
| Roscommon | 3,028 | 43% | 45% |
| Sligo | 3,957 | 39% | 59% |
| Tipperary | 9,200 | 52% | 39% |
| Waterford | 5,402 | 43% | 42% |
| Westmeath | 5,002 | 41% | 54% |
| Wexford | 7,427 | 36% | 54% |
| Wicklow | 6,686 | 43% | 40% |
| Total | 234,597 | 41% | 48% |
Further information can be found on the Early Learning and Childcare data website. The Capacity Section of the website provides information on the number of children enrolled, services with vacant places, and services with a waiting list.
No comments