Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 June 2026
631. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality when the National Conversation on Education: The First Five Years and School-Age Care National event will be taking place; the reason the originally proposed date of 17th June was cancelled; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47557/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs part of the National Conversation on Education: the First 5 years and School-Age Childcare, the Department of Children, Disability, and Equality (DCDE) is undertaking a public consultation process on the future of early learning and care (ELC) and school-age childcare (SAC) including childminding. This broad consultation process seeks views not only from early years educators, school-age childcare practitioners and childminders, but also from parents, providers, and community members. Input gathered during the National Conversation will inform both Phase 2 of Shaping the Future—the Government’s Early Years Action Plan—and the successor to the First 5 Strategy, Ireland’s Whole-of-Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and their Families.
The consultation process has a number of channels designed to facilitate the participation of a wide range of stakeholders. These include a national online survey on ELC and SAC, which has now closed and received 11,725 responses.
In addition, a survey of a nationally representative sample of parents was conducted through a telephone poll of approximately 600 parents with children under 15 years of age, seeking parents’ experiences and perspectives on early learning and childcare.
An art-based engagement exercise with children also formed part of the consultation process.
56 consultation events took place took place between 20 and 30 April. These events were organised in collaboration with the City and County Childcare Committees. 55 were local in-person events (with at least one in every county) and one was an online consultation session which took place through the Irish language.
The main consultation mechanism between the Department’s ELC/SAC Division and stakeholders in the ELC and SAC sector is the Early Learning and Childcare Stakeholder Forum (ELCSF). The primary focus of recent ELCSF meetings has been consultation on the development of Shaping the Future: the Early Years Action Plan. The ELCSF meetings provide a key forum for stakeholders to inform the planning process of both the consultation and the Phase 2 action plan.
A national consultation event, the Shaping the Future National Forum: Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare, will also take place later in the year. The date mentioned by the Deputy was a provisional date. The event will take place later in the year in order to provide sufficient time to incorporate insights from the broad consultation into the national event. This event will build on the ideas gathered through the surveys, the consultation event and engagement with the ELCSF members.
