Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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232. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality which early education centres are receiving funding in the State; and the total number of children attending at that level; and how many of these centres are providing the service in full Irish and what number of children are involved and can the issue be discussed. [17748/26]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Each year, Pobal compiles data from Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School-Age Childcare providers as part of the Early Years Sector Profile. The most recent published data for the 2024/25 programme year indicates that at the time of the survey, May-June 2025, there were 3,901 ELC services with an active contract for a Department funded scheme.

The most recent published capacity data for the 2024/25 programme year estimated that there were 157,092 children enrolled in ELC services nationally.

The Department does not currently hold a directory of naíonraí or Irish-medium settings or a directory of children enrolled in Irish-medium settings. The Annual Early Years Sector Profile collates information about use of the Irish language in services, categorised by whether services are:

1. wholly Irish-medium settings;
2. mixed settings where part of the setting is English-medium and part of the setting is Irish-medium;
3. English-medium settings with some use of Irish;
4. and wholly English-medium settings.