I propose to take Questions Nos. 1494 and 1495 together.
The Programme for Government sets out a number of priorities for Government in relation to access to early learning and childcare services including a commitment to ‘review the 2001 Childcare Facilities Guidelines for Planning Authorities to ensure childcare spaces are provided and put to use’.
Further to the commencement of Chapter 3 of Part 3 of the Planning and Development Act 2024 on the 2nd of October, provisions for National Planning Statements have been introduced to replace the provisions for Ministerial guidelines issued under section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000.
All existing Section 28 guidelines will, over time, be revoked and replaced with new National Planning Statements, including the Childcare Guidelines. The current guidelines will however remain in force until revoked or replaced by a corresponding National Planning Statement. The timing of the issuing of National Planning Statements will be based on Government priorities.
My Department, in conjunction with the Department of Children, Disability and Equality (DCDE) and the Department of Education and Youth (DEY) has established a Working Group, chaired by DCDE, to create a clear mechanism for information sharing and discussion in relation to current and future policy related to planning of early learning and childcare services, including examining the role of the existing Childcare Guidelines for Planning Authorities. To date, eight meetings of the Working Group have taken place over the course of 2024 and 2025, with the most recent meeting held in September 2025.
Work to date has included engagement with the Planning and Land Use Committee of the County and City Management Association (CCMA), which supports the Interdepartmental Working Group. The primary focus of this work is to gain a practical overview of the application of the existing guidelines with a view to initiating the drafting of a National Planning Statement, which will complement other work being undertaken by the Department of Children, Disability and Equality to support the provision of childcare facilities.
National Policy Objective 41 of the NPF in particular prioritises the alignment of targeted and planned population and employment growth with investment in a number of areas including a childcare/ECCE planning function, for monitoring, analysis and forecasting of investment needs, including identification of regional priorities; and the provision and timely delivery of childcare facilities and new and refurbished schools on well-located sites within or close to existing built-up areas, including in support of infill and brownfield development, that meet the diverse needs of local populations and act as a key enabler for housing development, thereby contributing to the development of sustainable communities.
Where childcare facilities are subject of applications for planning permission, statutory timelines for decision making apply to planning authority applications under the Planning and Development Act 2000 and will also apply to appeals and applications to be determined by An Coimisiún Pleanála under the Planning and Development Act 2024, further to the commencement of the relevant part of that Act.
Planning Authorities and An Coimisiún Pleanála are required to have regard to the 2001 Guidelines in carrying out their functions under the Planning and Development Act, 2000. The Guidelines set out a methodology for calculating an adequate provision of childcare places and are intended to ensure a consistency of approach to the treatment of applications in respect to the land use planning aspects of childcare provision, for relevant planning applicants, developers and childcare providers in formulating and considering development proposals.
The Guidelines currently set out that a standard of one childcare facility providing for a minimum 20 childcare places per approximately 75 dwellings may be appropriate. This is a guideline standard and will depend on the particular circumstances of each individual site. Consideration of childcare facilities provision should be raised as early as possible in preplanning discussions for larger housing developments. As set out above, the Guidelines are currently being reviewed in conjunction with the Department of Children.
Section 4.7 of the Planning Design Standards for Apartments Guidelines for Planning Authorities, 2025 sets out that the threshold for provision of childcare facilities in apartment schemes should be established having regard to the scale and unit mix of the proposed development, the existing geographical distribution of childcare facilities and the emerging demographic profile of the area.
