Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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908. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of naíonraí closures over the last five years; and the number of closures forecast for next year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [62240/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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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 recent published data available is for the 2023/24 programme year.

Of the 2,964 service providers that completed the Early Years Sector Profile for 2019/20 (a response rate of 65%), 243 reported that they operated through the Irish medium*. Of the 4,021 service providers that completed the survey for 2023/24 (a response rate of 85%), 276 reported that they operated either wholly or partly through the Irish medium**. During that same period a total of 30 service providers operating through the Irish medium left the sector.

These figures do not include service providers that opened or closed due to a change of circumstances, i.e. change of address, change of ownership, change of legal structure or Local Authority regulatory compliance, as these are not considered ‘true’ openings or closures.

The Department does not currently forecast closures of service providers within the sector. Further information can be found on the Early Learning and Childcare data website. The Service Providers: Overview section of the website provides information on service provider characteristics and trends.

*From 2019/20 to 2020/21 services operating through the medium of Irish answered 'Yes' to the question 'Does the service provide ELC through the medium of Irish?'.

**In 2022/23 and 2023/24 services were asked to select from a range of options that best describe their setting. The above figures include services who identified as either 'A wholly Irish-medium setting' or 'A mixed setting where part of the setting is English-medium and part of the setting is Irish-medium'.