Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 2 July 2026
414. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 921 of 12 May 2026, to confirm that no cap, limit or oversight mechanism currently applies to the profit margins of private providers of State-funded residential childcare placements; whether she considers such a mechanism warranted given the scale of private provision; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50639/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra415. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 942 of 12 May 2026, whether any independent value-for-money audit, as distinct from the bi-annual contract reviews referenced in that reply, has been conducted into private residential childcare placements since 2020; if so, to publish the findings; and if not, whether she will commission one. [50640/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra416. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the total expenditure by Tusla on placements purchased from private children's residential centres; the total expenditure on all residential care placements; and the percentage share represented by private placements, in each year from 2020 to 2026; and if figures for years prior to 2024 cannot be provided, the reasons therefor. [50641/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra436. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 1016 of 26 May 2026, the average cost of a State-operated residential childcare placement and of a privately operated residential childcare placement; or to confirm that no comparative cost analysis between the two is conducted. [50667/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra437. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 490 of 23 April 2026, the average annual cost per child of a private residential childcare placement in each year from 2020 to 2026, in tabular form. [50668/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra438. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality further to the reply to Parliamentary Question No. 1018 of 26 May 2026, whether a formal assessment of the risks arising from market concentration and dependency on a small number of private residential childcare providers has been carried out; and whether such risk is recorded on the Tusla corporate risk register. [50669/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 414, 415, 416, 436, 437 and 438 together.
I would like to thank the Deputy for this question regarding private provision of care for children in the care of the State.
Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, has acknowledged its increased reliance on private providers in recent years, and has committed to incrementally reduce this. It also intends to increase its provision of statutory placements, as well as those provided by community & voluntary organisations.
The Department of Children, Disability and Equality has resourced Tusla to maintain and expand its provision of services through significant additional funding across successive Budgets.
Officials within the Department are currently progressing the development of a National Policy Framework on Alternative Care. Matters pertaining to the Agency's reliance on private provision will form part of the deliberative process preceding the publication of the Framework.
