Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 April 2026
987. Deputy John Connolly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the current number of registered early learning and care places available in Galway city, broken down by age category, including children aged 0–one years and one–two years; the number of children on waiting lists in the city for these age cohorts; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30967/26]
View answerEach year, Pobal compiles data from Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) providers as part of the Early Years Sector Profile. Data for the Early Years Sector Profile is typically captured in May/June of each programme year. While ELC and SAC offerings vary across service providers and the allocation of ELC or SAC places is flexible, the published capacity data provides an estimate of the number of children enrolled in ELC and SAC and the percentage of services with at least one vacant place at a given time.
Data are not collated by the Department in the exact manner requested by the Deputy. The most closely aligning data available on capacity in County Galway is summarised below.
The most recent published capacity data for the 2024/25 programme year estimated that there were 16,716 children enrolled in ELC and SAC services in County Galway. This data indicated that there were 913 estimated enrolments of one to two year olds and 7,220 estimated enrolments of two to five year olds in ELC services in County Galway. Due to the small number of enrolments for those up to one year of age, it is not possible to reliably estimate national or county figures for this cohort.
This data also indicated that 45% of services in County Galway had at least one vacant place and 45% had a waiting list.
As part of the early years sector profile survey, providers are asked the number of children on a waiting list for a place for their service. While this data can be used to give an indication of demand, it should not be used as a measure of overall demand for ELC or SAC places as it is vulnerable to overestimating the actual number of children requiring a place. An individual child may be on multiple waiting lists in different services and may remain on one or multiple service lists after taking up a place.
Further information can be found on the Early Learning and Childcare data website. The Capacity Section of the website provides information on the number of children enrolled, services with vacant places, and services with a waiting list.
