Written Answers Nos. 545-578
545. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of governance or safeguarding concerns raised about private companies providing care on behalf of the State since 2020, and the actions her Department has taken in response. [64926/25]
View answerAs this question relates to operational information held by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, the question has been referred to the Agency to reply directly to the Deputy.
547. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the steps each Department is taking to improve data sharing, risk assessment and governance coordination for services involving children, vulnerable adults and high-risk health environments. [65037/25]
View answerThe Department is currently collating the information requested and a reply will issue directly to the Deputy on this matter as soon as possible.
548. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the contingency measures which are in place to support families who lose childcare places as a result of providers withdrawing from core funding or ceasing operations; the extent to which her Department is tracking the emerging capacity gap at local and regional level; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65052/25]
View answerThe Department of Children is aware that a small number of service providers have regrettably chosen to withdraw from the Core Funding scheme. However, uptake of Core Funding remains strong. The fourth year of Core Funding began on 1 September and as of 18 November there were over 4,550 services signed up to Year 4 of Core Funding, a 5 per cent increase on this time last year. This is the highest number of Partner Services in Core Funding at any point since the scheme was launched in 2022 and the number continues to grow.
It should be noted that of the 507 services that withdrew from Core Funding in the first three years of the scheme, 356 services were contracted to Core Funding as of August 5, 2025 - meaning over 70% of services who withdrew, subsequently returned to Core Funding.
While the State cannot mandate providers to participate in the scheme, Core Funding has been designed with maximum participation of providers in mind as reflected in the year-on-year growth of investment in the Scheme (rising from €259 million in 2022 to over €405 million in 2026). This represents an increase of 57% in Core Funding in four years.
Participation in Core Funding is optional, but it remains open to all Tulsa-registered providers, subject to their agreement to the terms and conditions of the Core Funding Agreement. It is a matter for providers to decide whether they wish to sign up to Core Funding and benefit from the significant financial supports it offers to providers and the certainty it gives to parents through the associated fee management measures.
The Department has a list of all Core Funding Partner Services which is updated regularly on the Department’s website under How to Find a Partner Service.
Parents/guardians can also use the following website to find Core Funding Partner Services in their area: Childcare Service Search · Applicant Portal
City and County Childcare Committees (CCCs) offer a range of assistance to parents in Ireland to help them find and access childcare services in their local area.
CCCs maintain an updated directory of local Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) services, including full day care, part-time day care, sessional services, and childminders. This helps parents identify available options. They help parents understand the different types of childcare available and discuss which option would best suit their family's specific needs and circumstances (e.g., part-time, full-time, or school-age care).
They provide information and support on government funding programmes that help reduce fees. This includes the National Childcare Scheme (NCS), the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) scheme, and the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) for children with disabilities. They are also available to help parents understand and complete the application processes for these various financial assistance schemes.
CCCs can assist in identifying services in their area that have current vacancies, which is particularly helpful in areas with high demand. They guide parents on what to look for when visiting a service, what questions to ask, and how to make an informed decision that aligns with their child's needs. They may also refer parents to Tusla inspection reports, which are publicly available online.
Parents can contact their local CCC directly for this information and support. Contact details for all City and County Childcare Committees are available on the gov.ie website.
Overall, early learning and childcare capacity is increasing. Data from the Annual Early Years Sector Profile 2023/24 shows that the estimated number of enrolments has increased by 19% in the previous two years. However, it appears that demand for Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare remains high with limited vacancies particularly for younger children and in certain parts of the country.
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 capital programme to be resourced through the allocation in the revised National Development Plan 2026-30.
Current data on childcare capacity at county level is available at www.pobal.ie/childcare/capacity/.
The National Childcare Scheme (NCS) provides financial support to help parents reduce the cost of early learning and childcare in the form of a subsidy paid directly to the childcare provider. Subsidies are available for children aged between 24 weeks and 15 years of age. The minimum rate available to all families in Ireland is €2.14 per hour, which is available for up to 45 weekly hours. Depending on the child's age and the family's income, an additional income assessed subsidy may be available to provide additional support.
All Tusla registered providers are eligible to offer the National Childcare Scheme and avail of the supports the subsidy provides. Services are eligible for the same NCS supports irrespective of if they are a Partner Service with Core Funding or not.
549. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she has met with representative bodies for private childcare providers in recent months to discuss concerns regarding staffing costs, administrative burden, and funding adequacy under the core funding scheme; the outcomes of those engagements; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65053/25]
View answerI recently established an Early Learning and Childcare Provider Consultative Forum, to build on the Department’s strong commitment to, and track record in, engaging with stakeholders in the sector through the Department’s advisory, oversight, consultation and research processes.
The Forum will discuss policy and operational issues relating to the provision of early learning and childcare services and has the following objectives:
• To share information from the Early Learning and Childcare Division of the Department of Children, Disability and Equality and other relevant Departments and Agencies, including specific initiatives under consideration/development on supporting quality, accessible and affordable early learning and childcare as they relate to providers.
• To provide members with an opportunity to feedback this information to their own members, where relevant.
• To provide members with an opportunity to share information updates to the Forum.
• To provide an opportunity to seek the views of members on relevant policies and programme issues.
The Term of Reference for the Forum will be published on the Department’s website along with membership details. Minutes of meetings will be uploaded once agreed.
This Forum has met twice to date, on 17 September and 5 November. The agenda for the meeting of 5 November covered a range of issues, including Core Funding, Garda Vetting, Pension Auto-Enrolment and Commercial Rates for ECCE Services.
550. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will review the administrative and compliance obligations associated with the core funding model, which providers have described as onerous and disproportionate; the planned reforms to reduce the reporting burden; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65054/25]
View answerI acknowledge the increase in administration for providers with the introduction of schemes such as the NCS and Core Funding. A number of steps are being taken to reduce the administrative workload. In relation to Core Funding, improvements have been made to the application module since the commencement of Core Funding including a cloning facility, to enhance the user experience. A Universal Fee Table has been in place since 2023, which enables services to upload one single fee table that covers all schemes. The Parent Statement has also been refined so that one agreement now covers all schemes, and this only has to be signed once between the provider and parent irrespective of fee changes.
I am also mindful of the recommendation in the Partnership for Public Good of the need to consider administrative burdens on Core Funding Partner Services. Accordingly, it should be noted that work is well advanced on the Programme for Government commitment to develop an Action Plan for Administrative and Regulatory Simplification for the Early Learning and Childcare Sector.
To inform this plan, a review of the end-to-end processes linked to publicly-funded early learning and childcare schemes/programmes has been completed. A report of the findings of this review has been produced. Following recent further engagement with the sector, and these reports, the Action Plan will be finalised in 2025.
Funding to support administration costs for providers is included in Core Funding. This replaces the Programme Support Payments (PSP), which supported early learning and childcare providers in meeting the costs arising from the administrative work associated with the Department’s schemes, and for the time required to perform activities outside of contact time with children. The budget previously allocated to PSP has now been incorporated into Core Funding. In addition, the contribution towards staff pay and conditions under Core Funding takes account of both contact time and non-contact time.
The Department’s commitment to collating ‘transparent and robust’ data is one of the factors that has facilitated the strong and ongoing government commitment to Core Funding. When Core Funding was introduced in 2022, its allocation amounted to €259 million, of which €210.8 million was entirely new funding.
In Budget 2026, I secured an allocation for Core Funding of €405.35 million – representing a 57% increase in Core Funding in four years. Such significant investment continues to be contingent on the Department collating and analysing robust data, as it is only with such data that insights into cost patterns and potential imbalances of costs vs expenditure in the sector can be ironed out.
Further to this, I am required to ensure all Exchequer funding is managed in a clear and transparent manner. This includes a requirement to ensure robust and transparent Financial Reporting structures are in place.
Due to these requirements, and as part of their agreement with the Department of Children, Disability and Equality, Core Funding Partner Services are required to submit comprehensive and validated financial returns.
All reports must be uploaded to the Core Funding Contractual Requirements Reporting System (CFCRRS) at www.cfcrrs.ie. For the 2024/25 Programme Year, services must submit a Trial Balance.
All financial reports must be provided to the Department by being uploaded to CFCRRS no later than 6 months after the end of the given programme year. All financial reports submitted to the Department must be validated and submitted by a Registered Accountant. Failure to do so may mean the withholding of funding until the report is submitted.
As notice of the Trial Balance requirement was provided two years ago, it is anticipated that most services have been making appropriate adjustments to finance records in preparation for this, including for example, use of the Financial Management Tool and negotiating rates with suitably qualified accountants.
There is a free Financial Management Tool, which is on the Hive, or if services wish to use other accountancy products they can do so.
On the Hive, service providers will find the Chart of Accounts and Nominal Codes Explanations, to be shared with their accountants, as the accountants will be required to submit the services’ Trial Balance according to these codes on the portal (cfcrrs.ie) when it opens in February 2026.
Any Partner Service or Accountancy firm working on behalf of the Partner Service experiencing difficulty can contact the Department directly at support@cfcrrs.ie.
There is considerable information and guidance for Partner Services to assist them in making their financial return available on the following link - Core Funding – Documents - Service Provider Portal.
The CFCRRS.ie portal will open in Q1 2026. There will be a number of documents available to assist, including an FAQ, Guidelines and How to Videos.
Core Funding supports Partner Services with their financial sustainability while enhancing the quality, affordability, and accessibility of their services. In accordance with Partnership for the Public Good, Core Funding commits to drive high-quality service provision. To support this, when introduced in 2022, Core Funding required all early learning and care (ELC), school-age childcare (SAC) and childminding services that benefit from Core Funding to complete an annual Quality Action Plan, using tools provided by the Department and their agents.
In 2024 the Equal Start model was introduced. The fourth element of the Together for Better funding model, Equal Start provides additional universal and targeted measures to support the full participation of children experiencing disadvantage in ELC and SAC. Targeted service level supports are provided to priority settings identified as operating with the highest concentrations of disadvantage. The Equal Start model proposed that all ELC and SAC priority Tier 1 and Tier 2 services that benefit from Equal Start would develop and submit a Tackling Disadvantage Plan, using tools provided by the Department and their agents.
Diversity, equality, and inclusion are fundamental characteristics of quality early learning and care and school age childcare provision. In recognising this, and in an effort to minimise the administrative ask of Partner Services, the contractually required Tackling Disadvantage Plan and Quality Action Plan were amalgamated into a single Quality and Inclusive Practice Plan (QIPP).
The Core Funding scheme is built around the principle of compliance by design to ensure proper governance of the scheme, with various validations and checks in the Core Funding application form. In addition to the validations built into the application form in 2024/25, Pobal Compliance conducted a number of pilot compliance visits for Partner Services receiving the Graduate Lead Educator Premium on behalf of the Department.
In this current programme year, Graduate Lead Educator compliance checks will be carried out in Partner Services.
The Department is cognisant of the administration requirements on providers but must balance the requirements of the scheme and protect exchequer funding. As such, the attendance records required to facilitate this compliance check are aligned with those outlined in the Tusla Quality and Regulatory Framework for Full Day Care Service and Part-Time Day Care Services.
551. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will address concerns that the current funding model does not adequately reflect the higher staffing ratios and operating costs associated with infant and wobbler care; and if she will consider adjusting the funding to prevent further contraction of places in this age cohort; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65055/25]
View answerThe majority of Core Funding is distributed to services via the base rate, which is based on a service’s staffed capacity – the opening hours, operating weeks, the age group for whom services are provided, and the number of places available.
Unlike other funding streams within the Department, a place does not need to be filled for a service to receive funding, but the service does need to have the necessary staffing in place to meet the regulatory adult to child ratios.
Table 1: Hourly rates payable through the Base Rate from 1 September 2025
|
Age range |
Adult to Child ratio |
Value per place per hour offered |
|
Full and Part time |
|
|
|
0 to 1 years of age |
1:3 |
€1.90 |
|
1 to 2 years of age |
1:5 |
€1.28 |
|
2 to 3 years of age |
1:5 |
€1.10 |
|
3 to 6 years of age |
1:8 |
€0.80 |
|
Sessional |
|
|
|
0 to 1 years of age |
1:3 |
€1.90 |
|
1 to 2.5 years of age |
1:5 |
€1.28 |
|
2.5 to 6 years of age |
1:11 |
€0.76 |
|
School Age |
|
|
|
4 to 15 years of age |
1:12 |
€0.59 |
Since its introduction in 2022, Core Funding has provided increased levels of funding to services delivering care to younger children, to support these services to meet the higher operational costs created by the higher ratios set out in regulations, and to incentivise increased capacity for babies and younger children under three.
This year, a new element of the Core Funding calculation was introduced to distribute the new funding ring-fenced for improvements to staff pay and conditions – called the Staff Funding Additional Contribution.
The calculation of the Staff Funding Additional Contribution per service is linked to the staffing requirements set out by regulations, which means that the allocation offered is reflective of the higher staffing requirements for younger ages. It also reflects that the funding that has been available for graduate-led provision for the previous three years can and should be facilitating higher rates of pay for graduates. It will be calculated as:
Minimum staffing hours minus Graduate Lead Educator Premium hours multiplied by a maximum of €1.14 per eligible hour
This funding is ring-fenced for staff pay and conditions and can only be used for this purpose. The release of the funding is contingent on the establishment of updated Employment Regulation Orders by the independent Joint Labour Committee.
It is important to note that although there are various elements used to derive the grants for individual services, the eligible areas of expenditure of the Core Funding grant are much broader. Services can choose how to spend their Core Funding grant in accordance with the approved areas of expenditure outlined in the Funding Agreement. The Staff Funding Additional Contribution is the only element of the grant which currently has a prescribed use.
I was delighted to announce further investment in Core Funding in Budget 2026. The additional funding being made available in 2026 will see the allocation for Core Funding in the next programme year which begins in September 2026 increase to €436.94 million. That is an additional €44 million on the current full year allocation.
This increased investment will allow for further increases in capacity across the sector, and will support Partner Services in adhering to the fee management conditions of the grant including reductions in the maximum fee caps from September 2026. This will guarantee that Core Funding’s monetary protections will continue to be passed on to families while ensuring sustainability and stability for the sector.
In addition to the increased level of Core Funding, there are wider financial supports available from the Department where a service is experiencing financial difficulty or has concerns about their viability, which can be accessed while remaining within Core Funding.
Once a service engages with their local City/County Childcare Committee, they will be able to avail of supports through the case management process, this support can take the form of general operational supports as well as more specialised advice and support appropriate to the individual circumstances of a service.
The Department also offers Sustainability Funding to services where issue/s have been identified through the Case Management process that have the potential to have serious consequences for their viability.
Sustainability Funding is intended to prevent significant issues that threaten the viability of a service from occurring in first instance, and any service seeking these supports should contact their City or County Childcare Committee.
I am happy to see that early learning and childcare capacity is increasing. Data from the Annual Early Years Sector Profile 2023/24 shows that the estimated number of enrolments increased by approximately 19% from the 2021/22 programme year. Core Funding application data shows that between Year 1 and Year 3 of the scheme, annual place hours increased by over 15%. The Tusla register of services demonstrates a net increase in the numbers of registered early learning and childcare services in 2024.
However, it appears that demand for early learning and childcare remains higher than available supply, particularly for younger children and in certain parts of the country.
Demand for early learning and childcare beyond sessional pre-school provision is highly elastic and shaped very substantially by families' individual composition, circumstances, and preferences; employment patterns and income; and the price and availability of services.
A Forward Planning and Delivery Unit in this Department is progressing an important programme of work focused on identifying areas of need, forecasting demand, and planning for the delivery public supply within the early learning and childcare sector where required.
A forward planning model is in development which will be central to the Department's plans to achieve the policy goals set out in the Programme for Government to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early childhood education and care system, with State-led facilities adding capacity.
The Department continues to support the ongoing development and resourcing of Core Funding which has given rise to a significant expansion of places since the scheme was first introduced.
The Government is also supporting the expansion of capacity through capital funding. The Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme is designed to increase capacity in the 1–3-year-old, pre–Early Childhood Care and Education, age range for full day care. Core Funding Partner Services could apply for capital funding to physically extend their premises or to construct or purchase new premises.
Capital funding allocated to the early learning and childcare sector under the National Development Plan has enabled significant investment in early learning and childcare. This allows existing Core Funding Partner Services to extend their existing premises or, in the case of community services, to construct or purchase new premises. The Scheme will deliver up to 1,500 full-day care places for 1- to 3-year-olds. The shortlisted services are now working with the Chief State Solicitor’s Office in completing the legal formalities of the scheme. I look forward to seeing these projects progress over the coming months.
The Programme for Government commits for the first time to provide capital investment to build or purchase state-owned early learning and childcare facilities, to create additional capacity in areas where unmet need exists. State ownership of facilities is a very substantial and significant development and offers the potential for much greater scope to influence the nature and volume of provision available and to ensure better alignment with estimated demand. This work will be supported through capital investment under the revised National Development Plan.
552. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the measures being taken to address recruitment and retention challenges in the early learning and care sector; if her Department plans to introduce additional supports to improve pay, conditions and career pathways for educators; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65056/25]
View answerI acknowledge many early learning and childcare services report recruitment and retention challenges. In general, these challenges are not caused by insufficient supply of qualified staff, but by high levels of turnover.
Data from the 2024 Annual Early Years Sector Profile survey shows the national turnover rate for the sector was approximately 25.8% with 28% of the turnover rate due to staff moving from one provider to another.
Improvement in pay is certainly key to improving recruitment and retention rates, as is the full implementation of Nurturing Skills.
Pay is one of a number of issues impacting the early learning and care and school-age childcare workforce. The level of pay for early years educators and school-age childcare practitioners does not reflect the value of their work for children, families, society and the economy.
Staff turnover is linked to pay and working conditions. However, the State is not an employer of staff and neither I, nor the Department, set pay or working conditions.
The Joint Labour Committee is the formal mechanism established by which employer and employee representatives can negotiate minimum pay rates, which are set down in Employment Regulation Orders.
Outcomes from the Joint Labour Committee process are supported by Government through Core Funding. In this programme year 2025/26 Core Funding has increased by 6% to €350 million with an additional €45 million in ring-fenced Core Funding provided to support early learning and care services in meeting the increased cost of minimum pay rates in the sector.
As recently announced, the Minister of State for Employment, Small Business and Retail Alan Dillon has signed new Employment Regulation Orders for Early Years Educators and School-Age Practitioners.
The Orders commenced on 13th October 2025. They provide for an average of 10% increase to minimum hourly rates of pay. It is estimated that 67% of those working in the sector will see their wages increase as a result of the new minimum pay rates.
The Government remains committed to ‘continue to implement Employment Regulation Orders to attract and retain early years educators’ and to making available a similar sum in 2026 to support a further future round of pay improvements negotiations through the JLC process.
Staff in this sector play a key role in supporting children’s development and well-being. Recognising their central importance for the quality of provision, the Department continues to deliver on the workforce plan for the sector, Nurturing Skills.
Nurturing Skills aims to support the professional development of the workforce and sets out plans to raise the profile of careers in the sector, establish role profiles, career pathways, qualification requirements, along with leadership development opportunities.
To support the development of career pathways, the role profiles of educator, lead educator and manager, which were set out in Nurturing Skills, were given legal meaning when used as the basis for the Employment Regulations Orders for the sector. These Orders now embed a career structure by setting different rates of pay for the different roles.
Since its inception in 2024 the pilot NSLF scheme has been in a position to offer financial support to over 700 applicants.
553. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will provide data on regional disparities in childcare availability, including areas where supply is failing to meet demand; the targeted interventions which are being developed to alleviate childcare shortages in those areas; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65057/25]
View answerImproving access to quality and affordable early learning and childcare is a key priority of Government.
Overall, early learning and childcare capacity is increasing. Data from the Annual Early Years Sector Profile in 2024 shows that the estimated number of enrolments increased by 19% in the previous two years. However, it appears that demand for early learning and childcare remains higher than available supply in certain parts of the country, particularly for younger children.
Current data on childcare capacity at county level is available at www.pobal.ie/childcare/capacity/.
The development of a forward planning model is currently underway led by the Forward Planning and Delivery Unit. 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.
The analysis of the forward planning model will provide a key input into the approach to the 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 high-quality, inclusive and accessible early learning and childcare system and to ensure value for money.
The forward planning model is being designed primarily as a tool for internal analysis. The maps and data that the model will produce will contain protected categories of data and will therefore not be made generally available in full. As the model is further developed along with accompanying policy work related to supply, aggregated statistics, including statistics broken down by local geographical area, may be made available, subject to data protection considerations.
As announced in the context of Budget 2026, €36 million 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, investment in expansion of existing early learning and childcare operators through the Building Blocks scheme and a number of quality initiatives including supports to childminders.
Preparatory work for this programme of capital investment is underway, with the programme planned to commence in line with the revised NDP allocation from 2026 onwards. As such, no decisions on prioritisation or targeting of certain local geographic areas within counties have yet been made.
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.
554. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her Department has carried out any impact assessment of the core funding model since its introduction; if her Department plans to review or revise the model in view of recent provider withdrawals and operational challenges; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65058/25]
View answerThe introduction of Core Funding in 2022 brought a significant increase in investment for the sector, with €259m of funding paid directly to services in year 1 of the scheme, of which €210.8m was entirely new funding.
An evaluation of the first year of Core Funding and the development of an evaluation framework for Core Funding is currently underway. This project will examine the early implementation of Core Funding and make recommendations for future evaluations of the grant. Findings from the project are expected in Quarter 4 2025.
This project is being undertaken by Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service or IGEES policy analysts working in the Research and Evaluation Unit of my Department.
IGEES is an integrated cross-government service established in 2012 with the objective of enhancing the role of economics and value for money analysis in public policy making. It is part of the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform.
In addition to this formal evaluation, since the Scheme was introduced, its effectiveness has been subject to ongoing review and the scheme itself has evolved year on year.
Core funding increased by 11% to reach €287m for the second year, and by a further 15% to €331m for the current and third year of the scheme. The allocation of this additional funding in year 2 and 3 of was informed by the data from previous years, feedback from stakeholders as well as an independent financial review of sessional services by Frontier Economics.
Moreover, changes to fee management were introduced in year 3, enabling low fee services to apply for a fee increase.
The full year allocation for year 4 of Core Funding is over €390 million. This includes funding specifically ringfenced to support employers to meet the costs of increases to the minimum rates of pay in the sector that came into effect on 13 October. The use of this increased funding was informed by data from previous years as well as stakeholder feedback.
The total allocation for Core Funding in 2026/2027 programme year will increase to €436.94 million, an additional €44 million on the current full year allocation. Full details of Core Funding 2026/2027 will be made available to the sector in 2026 and will be informed by emerging insights from the ongoing operation and evaluation of the scheme.
As of 18 November, 93% of eligible providers have signed up to the fourth year of Core Funding, which equates to over 4,500 services and an increase of over 5% since this time last year. Core Funding is currently experiencing the highest total number of participating services since the introduction of the Scheme.
The Department has also made changes to improve the sustainability of providers through, for examples, targeted measures for small and sessional services, a fee increase assessment and approval process for services with fees frozen at unsustainably low rates. There are also wider financial supports from the Department for services experiencing financial difficulty.
In relation to withdrawals specifically, services may choose to leave the scheme mid-year for a multitude of reasons including being denied a fee increase, temporary closures, financial difficulties, administrative requirements and personal reasons such as retirement. Many services have left and later re-joined the scheme.
While the Department cannot mandate providers to participate in the Scheme, every effort has been made to carefully design Core Funding to meet the policy objectives including to achieve high levels of participation by providers.
555. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality her Department's long-term vision for childcare sector reform, including the way in which she plans to balance affordability for parents with sustainability for providers; if further structural changes to the funding model are under consideration; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65059/25]
View answerThe Department’s long-term vision for the sector is set out in First 5, the Whole-of-Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and their Families 2019-2028. Work is currently under way to develop the final 3-year implementation plan under the First 5 strategy, to cover the years 2026-2028, with a view to publication early in 2026. In addition, the Programme for Government commits to "undertake a broad consultation and publish a detailed Action Plan to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early childhood education and care system".
Officials in the Department are continuing to develop this Action Plan which will look at affordability, access and quality of the early learning and care (ELC) and school-age childcare (SAC) system. These three attributes – affordability, accessibility and quality – are closely connected and the ways in which they interact are complex. It will be essential that we make progress in all three areas in parallel in order to deliver on our vision.
Officials are working on an integrated approach to minimise the risk of unintended consequences and to identify opportunities to address multiple policy challenges at the same time. For example it is essential that measures to improve affordability are designed in such a way that they serve to strengthen the quality of provision and do not unintentionally impact negatively on the sustainability of services at the same time.
The Department already provides targeted funding and supports for services facing sustainability challenges. The Department also oversees a system of case management through which local City and County Childcare Committees assist services with issues and difficulties that arise. Support can take the form of assisting services with interpreting analysis of staff ratios and cash flow, general operational supports and financial support for partner services, as well as more specialised advice and support appropriate to individual circumstances. In some instances, financial supports may be deemed appropriate in tandem with the case management process.
While work on developing the Action Plan is ongoing, we are already taking initial steps to deliver on key commitments in the Programme for Government. Budget 2026 enables Core Funding to continue to support fee-control measures and will also allow for growth in the sector. The allocation for Core Funding in 2026 will ensure fees remain at 2021 levels for a majority of providers. As well as this, there will be a new maximum fee cap set to reduce costs for families paying the highest fees across the country. Further details of the new, lower maximum fee caps will be announced in the coming months.
The 2026 allocation for Core Funding will also support implementation of the recently announced Employment Regulation Orders, which led to a 10% increase - on average - in the minimum rate of pay for early years educators, school-age childcare practitioners and for other roles in the sector from 13 October.
There will also be enhancements in Year 5 of Core Funding - from September 2026 - to further improve pay for educators and school age childcare practitioners with implementation of new Employment Regulation Orders.
Further steps will be detailed in the Action Plan on Accessible, High Quality, Affordable Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare, which the Department is continuing to develop. The Action Plan will be informed by a broad consultation process and will set out plans to achieve Programme for Government commitments, including the commitment to reduce maximum monthly fees to €200 over the lifetime of the Government.
I will provide further detail on the Action Plan and the consultation process at the earliest opportunity.
The Department is fully committed to promoting affordability for parents and viability for businesses through Core Funding, the supply-side grant to early learning and childcare providers towards their operating costs. Core Funding is designed to promote affordability for parents and sustainability for providers through increased funding to the sector, paid on a consistent and equitable basis.
The additional funding being made available in 2026 will see the allocation for Core Funding in the next programme year which begins in September 2026 increase to €436.94 million. That is an additional €44 million on the current full year allocation.
The additional funding being made available in 2026 will allow for a 4.2% increase in growth of the sector in year five of the scheme. This growth increase will be driven both by new services joining the sector and existing services offering more places and/or longer hours to families. €14.45 million has been secured for this purpose in a full programme year.
When contracting to Core Funding, service providers agree to abide by the Scheme’s fee management system, which includes a fee freeze at September 2021 levels and maximum fee caps.
Maximum fee caps, which were introduced for new entrants to the Scheme in Year 3, have been reduced and extended to all new and existing Partner Services in Year 4.
Under these new fee caps, the fee for a full day place – of between 40-50 hours per week, the most common full day care operating hours – can be charged at no more than €295 per week (before State subsidies under the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) and the ECCE programme are deducted), with a fee cap of €354 for more than 50 hours of care.
€20.6 million in brand new full-year funding was secured in Budget 2026 to support providers in adhering to Core Funding fee management conditions, including further reductions in the maximum fee caps in the fifth year of the Scheme. This will guarantee that Core Funding’s monetary protections will continue to be passed on to families while ensuring sustainability and stability for the sector.
556. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the current number of children awaiting ASD assessments across the midlands, including a breakdown, by county and the average waiting time for assessment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65585/25]
View answerAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
557. Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty asked the Minister for Health for an update on Ireland's Health Workforce Action Plan, with particular reference on decreasing staff burnout and levels of long-term emigration; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [64789/25]
View answerIn recent years significant investment has been made in the health and social care workforce. There have been substantial efforts to build capacity, improve the availability of health professionals and reform their training to support integrated care across the entire health service.
The Department is focused on the need for good and safe working environments, and the need for health-care workers to be provided with the necessary tools and opportunities for career and competence development. This includes initiatives to improve workplace safety, reduce stress and prevent burnout among health-care staff.
Targeting work transformation along with increasing the domestic supply of health and social care professionals will ensure the future workforce planning efforts are cognisant of budgetary and capacity constraints within the health and social care sectors. There is also a need to explore strategies to promote integrated care, maximise capacity and build flexibility and agility in the workforce to deliver on modernised care pathways.
The development of a long term workforce plan is an important step in our future planning to ensure that we have the appropriate health and social care workforce to deliver on Sláintecare, to ensure that the people of Ireland have access to the right care, at the right place in the right time, delivered by the right people with the right skills at the right cost.
Our long-term workforce planning projections tell us that there is an expected shortfall across most of the health and social care staff categories modelled. This is largely due to an insufficient supply of domestic health and social care graduates to replace the existing workforce and meet the increase in demand for health and social care services. Population demographics are the major driver for this increased demand, and it is anticipated that the average annual growth in demand of professions modelled will range from 1.4% to 2%.
Our workforce planning strategies are informed by five interconnected pillars adopted from the WHO’s Framework for Action on the Health and Care Workforce 2023-2030.
- Plan: Using evidence and long-term workforce projections to meet our future workforce needs.
- Build: Building our future workforce supply through expansion of student places and matching the investment in workforce with the needs of the population.
- Optimise Performance: Reforming, maximising capacity and optimising health system performance to support the development of innovative models of care as envisaged under Sláintecare. Having the right mix of healthcare professionals with the right skills, supported by the right technology is essential.
- Recruit and Retain: Considering tailored interventions to improve recruitment and retention. This includes developing career pathways and opportunities to maximise retention. The same strategies may have different effects on different age groups, life stages, professions, locations and genders, and retention efforts need to be tailored accordingly.
- Invest: Targeted and smart investment in health and social workforce is a valuable investment.
558. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health the funding and measures in place for sick and elderly people who live alone and are being discharged from acute hospital settings, and who need sufficient care to manage in their home. [64999/25]
View answerAs this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly as soon as possible.
559. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health if she plans to conduct an equality and human rights impact assessment (EHRIA) of a proposal by the HSE to develop a centralised 50-bed residential mental health service on the grounds of St. Stephen’s Hospital, Glanmire (details supplied); the details of when an EHRIA in this instance will be carried out; and by whom. [62686/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
560. Deputy Eamon Scanlon asked the Minister for Health if she will give an update on the 15,000 free counselling sessions to men being provided as part of an integrated series of initiatives to ensure people with mental health difficulties are able to access the appropriate range of supports; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [64166/25]
View answerEnhancement of supports for people experiencing mental health difficulties is a priority for myself as Minister, the Government , and the HSE. This includes the provision of counselling services for people requiring support with their mental health.
I recently announced €2 million in funding to provide access to a suite of new talk therapies and counselling supports specifically tailored for men. Access to the services was scheduled to begin from September 2025.
This initiative is embedded within Ireland’s approach to mental health policy implementation. Sharing the Vision – A Mental Health Policy for Everyone, and Connecting for Life, Ireland’s national strategy for suicide prevention, clearly state that talk therapies should be considered a first-line treatment option for most people who experience mental health difficulties.
The funding is targeted at assisting with stigma reduction and to actively encourage men who otherwise would not usually avail of counselling to seek help with their mental health, to assist men in accessing mental health services, and to provide much-needed support for men experiencing a mental health crisis.
This recurring funding is allocated from Budget 2025 as part of an integrated series of initiatives to ensure people with mental health difficulties are able to access the appropriate range of supports, from mental health promotion and prevention, through to specialist services and clinical programmes.
As the specific information requested relates to a service matter, the HSE has provided the following summary of counselling provision for men during the period September – November 2025 outlined below:
MyMind
As of 05.11.25 MyMind had 194 men registered for this initiative. In total, 150 of these clients have either completed or have upcoming appointments:
• There were 296 completed appointments across 134 clients.
• A further 98 booked and upcoming appointments across over 70 clients.
• Some clients included in the completed figures also have upcoming appointments.
• The main presenting issues are anxiety, depression and stress.
Please note these figures are live and will have shifted further since early November.
Connect Counselling
• 25 new male callers from September 15th to November 9th.
• Reasons for calling the service include childhood abuse, addiction, self-harm, low mood, anxiety, and relationship issues.
• Four referrals were made to Counselling in Primary Care.
• The majority of callers became aware of the service from online sources.
Counselling in Primary Care (CiPC)
As part of the €2m initiative, an additional budget allocation was made to Counselling in Primary Care in the 2025 Mental Health Budget, with an emphasis on increasing uptake amongst men most at risk of suicide (those aged between 30 and 50 years of age).
A population-based approach was taken to the allocation of additional CIPC funding with a particular focus on increasing uptake in the service by male clients. Each Health Region was allocated funding for additional CIPC activity, based on their relative proportion of the population over 18 years.
This initiative targets male clients referred to CIPC who have a medical card as well as men who:
• Have been impacted by the scoping enquiry of sexual abuse in religious run schools
• Are former residents of Mother and Baby Homes
• Have Experienced childhood neglect and/or physical/sexual abuse
• Are family members of those impacted by the Stardust enquiry
• Have been referred by Connect Counselling
All clients referred to the NCS are provided with information regarding additional mental health supports. Additional agency counselling hours have been put in place to support this initiative so that people waiting longest for CIPC can be prioritised and seen more quickly.
In addition the requirement to ‘opt-in’ following referral to CIPC has been removed for all male clients. This initiative commenced in June 2025.
Since June 2025 the NCS no longer requires male clients to opt into the service following a referral from their GP. Prior to June 2025 when a referral was received from a GP or member of the primary care team the client was required to ‘opt in’ i.e. contact the NCS to confirm their referral to the service. If they did not opt in they were discharged from the NCS. As a result more men have now been listed for counselling.
A summary of counselling provision for men during the period June to October 2025 is provided below:
Since removing the opt in requirement for men referred:
• 2,844 men have been referred to NCS services
• 1372 new male clients have been allocated to a counsellor
• 12,307 counselling sessions have been offered to men
• of which 83% were attended.
• The majority of men availed of in person counselling (82%)
• 13% of men availed of counselling by phone, 5% attended online by video.
In addition, 301 clients received support calls from a counsellor while on the waiting list for counselling. They were provided with information about other mental health supports and services they can avail of while waiting for counselling with the NCS.
The HSE have a promotion and engagement plan to further promote the services associated with the €2m men's mental health initiative, including media/social media advertising and stakeholder partnerships such as links with the Irish Men’s Sheds movement.
I will be receiving regular updates on this initiative from HSE.
561. Deputy Eamon Scanlon asked the Minister for Health her plans to regulate the sale of nicotine products for oral consumption; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [64167/25]
View answerOn the 18th of November 2025, the Government approved the addition of baseline measures on all non-medicinal nicotine containing products, including pouches, to my current draft (Public Heath Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) (Amendment) Bill. These measures will introduce a minimum legal age of sale, a restriction on point of sale display and a prohibition on advertising in retail outlets. They will be developed in early 2026.
Nicotine pouches are not currently subject to regulation under European Union tobacco control legislation. A harmonised EU-wide framework for regulating these products would be more effective than individual Member State action, as it prevents regulatory circumvention through cross-border purchases.
In this context, representing Ireland and several other Member States, I recently urged the European Commission to introduce new EU tobacco control legislation at the earliest opportunity. I have also advocated for the inclusion of all novel nicotine products—such as nicotine pouches—within the scope of this proposal. I have also called for a prohibition on cross-border distance sales to ensure the integrity of national regulatory measures.
Nicotine pouch use remains very low within the adult population, while 17% are current tobacco smokers. Preventing smoking initiation and encouraging its cessation remain the primary focus in relation to nicotine use. Half of all smokers will eventually die from a tobacco-related illness and each week in Ireland tobacco smoking kills over 100 people and causes over 1000 hospitalisations.
562. Deputy Peter Roche asked the Minister for Health her Department's perspective on the CORU revised standards and criteria for counsellors and psychotherapists (details supplied); and the reason the revised standards also reduce the requirements for clinical supervision of therapists, which is an essential component of safe practice and if she will make a statement on the matter. [64639/25]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, CORU is Ireland’s multi-profession health and social care regulator. CORU’s role is to protect the public by regulating the health and social care professions designated under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 (as amended).
Counsellors and psychotherapists perform a vital role, providing therapeutic care to often vulnerable people.
Regulation is being introduced to these professions to protect the public, ensuring that care provided is of a consistently high standard and always by suitably qualified individuals.
The Counsellors and Psychotherapists Registration Board (CPRB) was established in 2019 and since that time has been working to progress regulation of both professions.
The CPRB undertook extensive research, analysis, and public consultation as part of the process of introducing statutory regulation for these professions.
The public consultation process received over 700 submissions, including from educators, professional bodies and existing practitioners. This comprehensive process recognised the differences in scope and complexity of practice between the two professions and ensures that the threshold standards and qualification levels set for each accurately reflect the competencies required for safe and effective practice, while strengthening public protection.
In line with the CPRB’s statutory responsibility to assess, balance and consider all perspectives before reaching a final evidence-based decision, the Board carefully considered every submission received and determined the final Standards and Criteria that will underpin entry to the registers for both counsellors and psychotherapists. This open, structured and inclusive process demonstrates CORU’s clear commitment to transparency, accountability, evidence-based decision-making, proportionality and, above all, the protection of the public.
A comprehensive consultation report has been published by CORU, setting out the process followed, the key themes raised in submissions, and the rationale for the final decisions taken by the Board and is accessible at [Counsellors & Psychotherapists Registration Board - Coru]
In July 2025 CORU published two key documents for each of these professions:
• Standards of Proficiency: These outline the threshold knowledge and skills required for entry to the register. They define what a counsellor or psychotherapist must be able to do at the point of entry into practice.
• Criteria for Education and Training Programmes: These set out the systems and processes education providers must implement in the design and management of education and training programmes. They provide assurance that all graduates have achieved all the Standards of Proficiency upon successful completion of an education and training programme.
The adopted Standards and Criteria reflect the threshold knowledge and skills required for safe practice at entry to the professions of Counselling and Psychotherapy. The introduction of consistent standards for the education and training of counsellors and psychotherapists marks a significant milestone, ensuring that those seeking support can have confidence in accessing appropriately trained and qualified practitioners.
On issues such as personal therapy and clinical supervision CORU’s competency-based framework ensures that essential attributes such as self-awareness, reflexivity, and ethical judgment are achieved through validated educational methods, including clinical supervision, reflective practice, and experiential learning.
CORU’s criteria mandate structured, practice-integrated supervision that enables supervisors and educators to directly evaluate proficiency and ensure safe practice. This approach provides robust, verifiable safeguards while maintaining flexibility for different theoretical modalities. The standards set the threshold for safe and effective practice, without restricting innovation or allowing education providers to exceed these minimum requirements at their discretion.
I am confident that CORU’s work will bring clear benefits for public protection. The framework has been designed to strengthen standards of practice while ensuring that training pathways and workforce supply are not adversely affected.
I am assured that CORU will continue to engage closely with education providers, professional bodies, and other stakeholders as the regulatory process advances, keeping public protection at the centre of this work.
I am eager to see this work progressed so that two very important professions are finally regulated, in the interest of public protection.
563. Deputy Peter Roche asked the Minister for Health her Department's plans to expand access to mental health services for young people, including school-based supports and early intervention programmes; whether consideration has been given to strengthening community mental health teams in rural areas; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [64640/25]
View answerIt is a priority for me, and for Government, to ensure that children who need services can access them and access them on time. This is in line with our national mental health policy Sharing the Vision, our suicide reduction strategy Connecting for Life, and the HSE Annual Service Plan 2025.
Year-on-year funding for mental health services increased from €1.3 billion announced in Budget 2024 to €1.5 billion in 2025 to nearly €1.6 billion in 2026. For context, this is an annual increase in funding of over 5%, and funding since I took up this office has increased by over 51%.
Specifically in relation to youth mental health, this year’s budget provided funding for new early intervention youth mental health services, funding to support a digital single point of access for youth mental health services, an additional specialist CAMHS eating disorders team, two new Mental Health of Intellectual Disabilities teams for children, and five new mental health Discovery Colleges for young people.
CAMHS nationally receives approximately €180 million annually, with a further €127 million provided to NGOs, many of which focus on youth mental health. Under Budget 2025, an additional €2.9 million has supported CAMHS to increase core staffing, develop a new CAMHS Emergency Liaison Service and expand CAMHS Hubs to improve crisis cover for services.
CAMHS nationally has also initiated a targeted campaign to reduce waiting lists across all of its CAMHS teams following the receipt of €3 million waiting list initiative funding from the National Child and Youth Mental Health Office for 2025.
CAMHS is a secondary care specialist service for those aged up to 18 years, who have a moderate to severe mental health difficulty. Access to CAMHS is on the basis of prioritised clinical assessment, in line with the CAMHS Operational Guidelines which are available on the HSE website. All referrals to CAMHS are assessed by a multidisciplinary team. Approximately 2% of the population require support from this specialist service with over 90% of mental health needs requiring treatment in a primary care setting.
I established the National Office for Child and Youth Mental Health in the HSE to improve leadership and all aspects of care across youth mental health. The Office published its new Youth Mental Health Action Plan in February last. This ambitious plan for comprehensive reform across all youth mental health services, including the specialist CAMHS service, will deliver services which are safer, effective, easier to access and which offers appropriate support at all levels when needed.
The three-year Plan sets out a clear roadmap for the Department and HSE to ensure children and families have equitable and timely access to high-quality mental health care, including better links with Primary Care and Disability Services, and greater use of e-mental health responses. My aim is that services will be better connected and easier to navigate, with increased focus on the rights of young people and their families. The development of a Single Point of Access for all child and youth mental health referrals in partnership with disabilities, primary care, and voluntary and statutory agencies is a key priority within the new Action Plan.
I recently commenced a series of visits to all HSE Regional Health Areas to meet with the Regional Executive Officers and their staff to focus on improvements to all aspects of Youth Mental Health care, to identify areas where increased activity is needed, and also areas of innovative and positive service delivery. This includes improving access and reducing CAMHS waiting lists particularly for those waiting over 12 months. I have stressed also, the importance of filling all approved posts for each CAMHS team to ensure the effective delivery of services.
With regard to expanding access to school based supports and early intervention programmes, recommendation 10 of Sharing the Vision states that a protocol should be developed between the Department of Education and Skills and the HSE on the liaison process that should be in place between primary/post-primary schools, mental health services and supports such as NEPS, GPs, primary care services and specialist mental health services. This is needed to facilitate referral pathways to local services and signposting to such services, as necessary.
A Working Group was established to progress recommendation 10 and improve liaison processes and information sharing between schools and mental health services. The Working Group met for the first time in January 2022 until it completed its work in December 2024. The Department of Education are currently working with the HSE to implement the protocol.
Furthermore, Stronger Together is the first mental health promotion plan to be published by the HSE and highlights their commitment to integrating the promotion of mental health and wellbeing across our health services, in collaboration with external partners. The plan is called Stronger Together because it is recognised that promoting positive mental health is not the work of one organisation or sector.
Schools and other educational settings provide a powerful opportunity to reach young people, while the educational environment provides children and young people with the potential to promote their psychological, social, and physical health. There is substantial evidence, backed up by several reviews of this evidence, that mental health promotion programmes in schools, when implemented effectively, can produce long-term benefits for young people, including emotional and social functioning and improved academic performance.
The HSE Health and Wellbeing Education Programme collaborates with the Department of Education to support schools to promote social and emotional wellbeing, as well as physical activity and healthy eating in school, in line with the Department of Education’s Wellbeing Framework for Practice (2019).
At primary and post-primary levels, there are a range of evidence-based mental health promotion programmes being delivered in schools, including but not limited to:
• Zippy’s Friends which is a universal programme for children aged 5–8 years in primary school and is designed to promote their coping skills and emotional wellbeing.
• The Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management Programme (TCM) which reduces conduct problems and promotes children's pro-social behaviour.
• MindOut is a 12-week social and emotional learning programme targeting Senior Cycle students in post-primary schools.
There are also a large number of innovative out-of-school youth programmes that enhance young people’s social and emotional skills and which show positive outcomes for young people, including improved self-esteem, social skills, reduced behavioural problems, and greater engagement in school and society. At third level, the National Student Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Framework (Higher Education Authority, 2020) and the Healthy Campus initiative are important framework documents, which set out priority areas for promoting mental health and wellbeing across third-level institutions.
I will continue to work closely with the HSE to ensure that all aspects of youth mental health care are improved over this year and beyond.
564. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health the number of outpatient and diagnostic appointments that have been offered, accepted, and recorded as did not attend/no show, in both the Regional Hospital Mullingar and the Regional Hospital Tullamore for the most recent full year; the number of patients currently on waiting lists in each hospital for MRI scans; the number of patients who have been referred from each hospital to private hospitals for MRI scans under outsourcing or insourcing arrangements; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [64641/25]
View answerIn relation to the particular query raised, as this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
565. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health the number of MRI appointments carried out in the Regional Hospital Mullingar in the past three years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [64642/25]
View answerIn relation to the particular query raised, as this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
566. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health the current number of children awaiting ASD assessments across the midlands, including a breakdown, by county and the average waiting time for assessment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [64652/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for attention and direct reply to the Deputy.
567. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health the total cost incurred by the HSE in outsourcing ASD assessments for children to private providers in the past five years; the number of children referred externally for assessment during that period; the average cost per outsourced assessment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [64653/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
568. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Health given cochlear implants are provided free of charge to deaf people, if there is potential for a change in policy in order that hearing aids can be made available free of charge, or at least with significantly greater financial support, to deaf people who need them. [64656/25]
View answerThe Health Service Executive (HSE) provides hearing aids and associated maintenance free of charge to children under the age of 18 and to adults with a medical card. Further information regarding the HSE's audiology service can be found at: [www2.hse.ie/services/audiology/].
In accordance with the provisions of the Health Act 1970 (as amended), eligibility for a medical card is determined by the HSE. In certain circumstances, the HSE may exercise discretion and grant a medical card, even though an applicant exceeds the income guidelines, where he or she faces difficult financial circumstances, such as extra costs arising from illness. Further information can be found at: [www2.hse.ie/services/schemes-allowances/medical-cards/].
The Treatment Benefit Scheme, operated by the Department of Social Protection, provides for healthcare services to qualified people who have the required number of PRSI contributions. This includes up to €1,000 for a pair of hearing aids, and up to €100 toward repairs, within a 4-year calendar period. Further information can be found at: [www.gov.ie/en/service/1fb655-treatment-benefit-scheme/]. Any changes to these grants would need to be considered in an overall policy and budgetary context.
Individuals who do not possess a medical card or who are not eligible for the Treatment Benefit Scheme would have to purchase hearing aids privately from a commercial provider. If the individual has private health insurance, it may cover hearing aid costs. Hearing aids are exempt from VAT. People may also be entitled to claim tax relief at the standard rate of tax (20%) on the purchase of hearing aids where prescribed.
569. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Health the number of psychology posts that have been approved nationally; the number currently vacant; the number of posts specifically allocated to Balbriggan; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [64657/25]
View answerI have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly on this matter.
570. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Health the expected timeline for the recruitment and appointment of psychologists to fill the approved but vacant posts, including those in Balbriggan; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [64658/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
571. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Health the contingency plans in place should recruitment efforts for psychology posts continue to face delays or stall, particularly in areas such as Balbriggan; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [64659/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
572. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Health when an occupational therapist will be recruited for primary care services in Laois; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [60014/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
573. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Health when an occupational therapist will be put in place in Laois to provide services to the elderly; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [60013/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
574. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Health when a psychologist cognitive behavioural therapist and a social worker will be put in place in County Laois; if the recruitment process is open; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [60016/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
575. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Health the number of individuals who have passed away while awaiting a hospital appointment or admission following a GP referral in each of the years from 2020 to date, in tabular form. [64671/25]
View answer576. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Health the breakdown, by hospital group and/or clinical specialism of the number of individuals who have passed away while on an outpatient or inpatient waiting list following a referral from a general practitioner, in each of the past five years. [64672/25]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 575 and 576 together.
The information requested by the Deputy is being collated by officials and will be provided as soon as possible.
577. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Health to provide an update on the timeline of implementation for the expansion of community neurorehabilitation teams nationally, following funding allocations in Budget 2026; the expected timeline of implementation for a community neurorehabilitation team in Dublin northwest; the expected funding amount for a community neurorehabilitation team in Dublin northwest; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [64673/25]
View answerThis PQ should be directed to the Department of Children, Disability and Equality as community neurorehabilitation teams are under their remit.
578. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Health the catchment areas for community neurorehabilitation teams in Dublin; the best possible options for constituents of Dublin northwest; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [64674/25]
View answerThis PQ should be directed to the Department of Children, Disability and Equality as community neurorehabilitation teams are under their remit.
