Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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321. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the current locations under consideration for a pilot public childcare scheme to begin in 2026; the number of childcare places that may become available at these locations; an exact timeframe when these pilot schemes will be up and running; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [64129/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Improving access to quality and affordable early learning and childcare is a key priority of Government.

The total capital allocation for the Department of Children, Disability and Equality under the revised National Development Plan for the period 2026-30 is €795 million. As announced in the context of Budget 2026, €36 million of this will be available in 2026 for early learning and childcare capital programmes. This will include acquisitions of new buildings through the State-led early learning and childcare programme and investment in expansion of existing early learning and childcare operators through the Building Blocks scheme as well as other quality initiatives.

The focus in the State-led services will be on services to meet demand for affordable, accessible, high quality early learning and childcare that is not otherwise being delivered, including on full day provision particularly for younger children. Up to eight new services will be acquired over the course of 2026 resulting in approximately 700 new places being delivered.

Preparatory work for this programme of capital investment is underway, with the multi-year programme planned to commence from 2026 onwards. As such, no decisions on prioritisation or selection of certain locations have yet been made.

As the locations of the planned childcare facilities have not yet been selected, it not yet possible to provide a precise estimate of the number of places that will be created upon delivery of the facilities, or of the time estimates for delivery. The number of places provided at each facility, and the time that they will be available from, will vary depending on a number of site-specific factors.

Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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322. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the criteria for selecting locations for the forthcoming public childcare pilot scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [64130/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Improving access to quality and affordable early learning and childcare is a key priority of Government.

The total capital allocation for the Department of Children, Disability and Equality under the revised National Development Plan for the period 2026-30 is €795 million. As announced in the context of Budget 2026, €36 million of this will be available in 2026 for early learning and childcare capital programmes. This will include acquisitions of new buildings through the State-led early learning and childcare programme and investment in expansion of existing early learning and childcare operators through the Building Blocks scheme as well as investment in other quality initiatives.

The development of a forward planning model is currently underway using the expertise of statisticians on secondment from the Central Statistics Office and other specialists. The model seeks to identify the nature and volume of different types of early learning and childcare places across the country and how that aligns with the numbers of children in the corresponding age cohorts at local area level. An extensive data analysis and cleaning exercise is currently being undertaken to map available publicly subsidised supply. This involves combining data from multiple administrative sources, including child population data, using GIS (Geographical Information System) mapping tools.

The analysis of the forward planning model will provide a key input into the approach to the multi-year capital programme to be resourced through the allocation in the revised National Development Plan 2026-2030. It will be one of a number of factors considered when selecting and prioritising projects.

Other factors will reflect the policy goals of the Department to support a quality, inclusive and accessible early learning and childcare system and to ensure value for money.

Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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323. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the amount of money allocated to the building blocks childcare scheme; the locations and amount allocated to each location over the past two years; the number of childcare places provided by this funding; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [64131/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme was launched in late 2024. The closing date for applications was 30th January 2025. There were four strands to the scheme: Community Construction, Community Extension, Community Purchasing and Private Extension. A total of 78 applications were received with 50 applicants approved to progress to the next stage of the grant process as outlined in an announcement in May available here:

www.gov.ie/en/department-of-children-disability-and-equality/press-releases/minister-foley-announces-25-million-in-funding-to-deliver-1500-additional-early-learning-and-childcare-places/.

Following approval, applicants were required to finalise the legal formalities of the scheme. This remains ongoing for some projects and other projects are now commencing. It is expected that the scheme will deliver up to 1,500 full time early learning childcare places across the country coming on stream from 2026.

The Building Blocks Expansion Grant Scheme operated in 2024. Some €1.362 million was allocated across 13 counties, broken down by the below table. This grant funding allowed for a combined capacity increase of 290 full time early learning childcare places.

Officials in the Department are currently examining options and detailed specifications for future Building Blocks schemes, and I expect to announce details in early 2026.

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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324. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if daycare and pre-school service providers who give notices of closure to Tusla and Pobal could still be registered and still receive their AIMS support payments (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [64140/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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In line with the requirements of the Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) Regulations, 2016, all registered providers are required to notify Tusla in writing of the closure of a service not later than 28 days after the closure takes place. There is no requirement to notify Tusla in advance of a service closure. Where a service does notify Tusla in advance, they will remain on the register until the date of closure.

The Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) is a model of supports designed to ensure that children with additional needs can access the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme. The goal of AIM is to empower Early Learning and Care (ELC) providers to deliver an inclusive preschool experience, ensuring that every eligible child can meaningfully participate in the ECCE Programme and reap the benefits of high-quality early learning and care through universal and targeted supports.

AIM funding is provided up to the child’s ECCE leaver date or the last day on which the support was delivered. AIM Standard funding is contingent on ECCE registrations, while AIM Plus and non-term applications have an additional dependency to confirmed NCS claims. Where an application continues to meet the programme requirements and the ECCE end date aligns with the last date of service, AIM funding should remain in place.

Ryan O'Meara (Tipperary North, Fianna Fail)
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325. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the scope of the new round of the building blocks grant 2026 fund; if the funding will include new builds; if the funding will allow for the purchase and renovation of an existing property for conversion into a preschool and-or childcare facility; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [64168/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme was launched in late 2024. The closing date for applications was 30th January 2025. There were four strands to the scheme: Community Construction, Community Extension, Community Purchasing and Private Extension. A total of 78 applications were received with 50 applicants approved to progress to the next stage of the grant process. Following approval, applicants were required to finalise the legal formalities of the scheme and projects are now commencing.

As part of the NDP review, the allocation for this Department has increased to €795 million over the next five years. This increased funding will be used in part to provide additional early learning and childcare places through future capital programmes, including operating a further scheme similar to Building Blocks to support the expansion of provision by existing operators, as well as implementing this Department's commitment to capital investment in State-led early learning and childcare facilities.

Officials in the Department are currently examining options and detailed specifications for future Building Blocks schemes, and I expect to announce details in early 2026.