Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 December 2025
81. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she is considering a review of the childminding sector, appreciating that current regulations do not allow childminders to hire an assistant; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [73107/25]
View answerThe National Action Plan for Childminding 2021-2028 set out a pathway for the extension of regulation to childminders. The childminding-specific Regulations, which came into effect in September 2024, are designed to be proportionate and appropriate to the home and family setting in which childminders work. In order to register as a childminding service, a childminder must provide a paid service for a minimum of 2 hours a day in their own home (principal residence) by themselves for children under the age of 15.
The regulation of childminding services is critical to the safeguarding of children. The route to registration under the new regulations requires childminders to undertake pre-registration training, as well as meeting certain regulatory requirements including Garda vetting, proof of insurance, first aid certification and child safeguarding training.
We are now in a 3-year transition period, to September 2027, during which childminders are being encouraged and supported to register, but registration is not yet mandatory. This phased approach aims to facilitate the largest possible number of childminders to enter the regulated sector, the sphere of quality assurance, and access to Government subsidies, while recognising the time and supports required for childminders to learn about and prepare for registration.
The Department has committed to undertake a review of the initial implementation of the Childminding-specific Regulations during the transition period. The review will include consultation with childminders and other stakeholders. The review will provide an important opportunity to learn lessons from initial experiences with the regulations.
The review will commence in 2026. The timing of the review is crucial. In addition to hearing from childminders who have not yet registered, it is important that the review adequately captures, and benefits from, the experiences of those who have registered and been through the registration process and who have operated within the new Regulations.
September 2025 marks the first full year since the introduction of the Regulations. Those childminders who have registered need time to thoroughly test the Regulations in practice. The number of childminders who have registered will impact upon the thoroughness of this testing also. We are in a three-year process, from introduction of the Regulations to the end of the transition period. It is appropriate that a review would take place at a stage in this three-year process when, given sufficient time and numbers registered, the benefits of the review can be maximised.
Both the Steering Group for the National Action Plan for Childminding, and the Advisory Groups that have supported it, have included childminders, as well as organisations representing childminders. The scope and timing of the review of the initial implementation of the Regulations was discussed at the most recent Steering Group meeting, on the 2 December. Plans for the review will be considered further by the Steering Group before the review begins.
