Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 23 April 2026
167. Deputy Shane Moynihan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality for an update on the measures being taken to reduce the administrative burden on childcare providers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28462/26]
View answerSimplify and Support, the Action Plan for Simplification was published in December 2025, in line with the Programme for Government commitment to reduce the administrative burden on early learning and childcare providers.
Simplify and Support focuses on a vision to create an early learning and childcare sector where administrative and regulatory requirements are simple, transparent and proportionate - improving access to programmes and schemes for children and parents and enabling providers, early years educators and school-age practitioners to focus on delivering high-quality early learning and childcare - while ensuring the highest standards of child safety, high-quality experiences and accountability for Exchequer funding.
The Action Plan focuses on eight key objectives:
1. Simplify the programmes and schemes
2. Streamline and align regulatory and compliance requirements
3. Upgrade the digital system and improve user experience
4. Embed ‘Once-only’ data capture
5. Clear, consolidated, accessible guidance
6. Strengthen provider capacity and sector supports
7. Enhance coordination and alignment between agencies
8. Simplify processes and reduce administrative requirements on parents
Implementation of Simplify and Support is being led by the Department of Children, Disability, and Equality, supported by a Cross Sectoral Group providing oversight. The Cross Sectoral Group, which is current being convened, will establish a set of key performance indicators to measure the effectiveness of simplification efforts and will publish an annual report of progress.
Some key projects currently underway this year include:
• An independent review of financial compliance checks associated with programmes and schemes to identify opportunities for automation, rationalisation, elimination and/or standardisation;
• An independent review of options for a long-term digital system for early learning and childcare.
• The development of a single set of comprehensive regulations covering all centre-based services, replacing the existing early learning and care and school-age childcare regulations with a single combined set of regulations.
There are also steps being taken ahead of the new programme year to identify opportunities for automation, rationalisation, elimination and/or standardisation of administrative tasks associated with the early learning and childcare programmes, with planning ongoing to consolidate AIM, AIM Plus and AIM Non-Term applications into one application for programme year 2026/2027.
