Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 8 July 2026
185. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the key measures taken to improve childcare and early learning services since January 2025; her priorities for same for the rest of 2026; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [51935/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraKey measures taken to improve Early Learning and Childcare since 2025 and the priorities for the rest of 2026.
|
Undertake a broad consultation and publish a detailed Action Plan to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early childhood education and care system with State-led facilities adding capacity. |
"Shaping the Future: The Early Years Action Plan, Phase 1 report (published on the 17 of December 2025) sets out measures to achieve key Programme for Government commitments on the affordability, quality, and accessibility of early learning and care and school-age childcare. One of the central objectives of Shaping the Future is to reduce parental fees to a maximum of €200 per month over the lifetime of the Government. The Action Plan adopts a phased approach that enables action to be taken in 2026 while allowing adequate time for a broad public consultation and analysis on longer-term actions. In line with the Programme for Government commitment, a broad public consultation process is currently underway. An online survey has been completed, with more than 11,000 responses. Approximately 50 local consultation events took place between the 20 - 30 April 2026 with the support of the City and County Childcare Committees. Phase 2 actions will be published later in 2026 and will be undertaken from 2027 through to the end of 2029. Phase 2 actions will include a roadmap to reduce parental fees to a maximum of €200 per month over the lifetime of the Government. The second report detailing 2027-2029 actions will be published later in 2026, following broad public consultation which is needed because of the nature and scale of reforms under consideration in the Programme for Government." |
|
Extend the National Childcare Scheme to childminders working in the family home, with sensible regulations that fit home-based care. |
All paid, non-relative childminders who work in their own homes can now register with Tusla and access the National Childcare Scheme. The childminding-specific Regulations, which came into effect in September 2024, are designed to be proportionate and appropriate to the home and family setting in which childminders work. |
|
Reduce the Administrative Burden on ELC and SAC providers |
"Simplify 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 on going to consolidate AIM, AIM Plus and AIM Non-Term applications into one application for programme year 2026/2027. |
|
Support childminders through the Tusla registration process and expand access to local training opportunities. |
Supports are available for childminders at local level through the City and County Childcare Committees. Each City and County Childcare Committee employs a Childminding Development Officer, who provides a range of supports to local childminders, including a short pre-registration training course. |
|
Deepen co-operation and shared learnings between early years education and the Department of Education Inspectorate. |
The Department meets with the Department of Education and Youth Early Years Inspectorate regularly in multiple forums which includes opportunities for discussion of learnings from the sector. Early Years Education inspections are carried out on behalf of the Department of Children, Disability and Equality by the Department of Education and Youth (DEY) Early Years Inspectorate in early learning and care settings to evaluate and report on the quality of educational experiences of babies, toddlers and young children from birth to six years including the universal free early childhood care and education (ECCE) programme. As part of the First 5 commitment to develop a single body that provides integrated care and education inspections, work has progressed between the Department, the DEY Early Years Inspectorate and the Tusla Early Years Inspectorate. |
|
Continue to provide grants that help childminders improve safety and quality through essential toys, equipment, and technology. |
The Childminding Development Grant provides up to €1,000 to assist both registered and unregistered childminders who are providing a childminding service in their own homes. In 2025, the Department has paid €413,338 to childminders through the Childminding Development Grant. The 2026 Childminding Development Grant, announced on 12 June, will see a total of €422,240 awarded to 424 childminders. |
|
Introduce and expand arts programming in early childhood education and care settings, nurturing creativity from a young age |
Principles for Engaging in the Arts: A Guide for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare Settings were published in 2025, to support early years educators, school-age practitioners and childminders in promoting arts experiences. The Department supports and part-funds the Arts in Early Learning and Childcare Scheme, which is delivered by the Arts Council; in 2025, the scheme, with a budget of €290,000, saw 9 successful award recipients engage with over 30 settings. The 2026 Arts in Early Learning and Childcare Scheme closed for applications on 2 April, the successful awards will be announced shortly. The Department supports and funds the delivery of Communities of Professional Practice (COPP) for early years educators, school-age practitioners and childminders; the COPPs, facilitated by the City and County Childcare Committees (CCCs), focus on different areas of practice, based on local need, which includes STEM and the Arts. |
|
Continue to implement Employment Regulation Orders to attract and retain early years educators. |
Through the Joint Labour Committee process, Employment Regulation Orders have been signed into law in September 2022, June 2024 and most recently in October 2025. The October 2025 Employment Regulation Orders provide for an average of 10% increase to minimum hourly rates of pay. It is estimated that 67% of those working in the sector saw their wages increase as a result of the new minimum pay rates. In line with the Programme for Government commitment to continue to implement Employment Regulation Orders to attract and retain early years educators a further €15m of ring-fenced funding, available from September 2026, to support the Joint Labour Committee process was secured as part of the Budget 2026 process. This will amount up to €45m for the full programme year. |
|
Remove barriers in education and training for early years educators to broaden access to the profession |
Nurturing Skills Learner Fund was established to enable educators who continue to work within the sector to pursue Level 7 and 8 qualifications in support of the First 5 and subsequently Nurturing Skills objective of a 'graduate led' Early Learning and Care workforce.
The Nurturing Skills Learner Fund assists in the financial costs for Early Year’s Educators who wish to pursue Early Learning and Care qualifications approved by the Qualifications Advisory Board at level 7 and level 8 while continuing to work in the sector, in a core funded service.
The scheme applies to those Early Years Educators who are entering a Nurturing Skills Learner Fund approved course for the first time.
Nurturing Skills Learner Fund pays up to 90% of Course Fees excluding student levies.
Applications for Nurturing Skills Learner Fund 2026 are now closed. Over 550 Early Years Educators have been offered financial support to upskill to Level 7 and Level 8 Early Learning and Care Qualifications for the Academic Year 2026/2027 beginning in Autumn 2026.
Since its inception in 2024 Nurturing Skills Learner Fund have offered financial support to over 1250 Educators. |
|
Introduce an ‘Earn and Learn’ apprenticeship model enabling childcare staff to gain qualifications and advance their careers. |
Pillar 4 of Nurturing Skills includes an action to examine the development of a range of entry routes into the sector, including apprenticeships or other work-based learning, and access programmes in further education and higher education. Research on alternative entry routes to the sector, including apprenticeships, has been commissioned and a final report has been received. This will inform the next steps in the delivery of this action. The establishment of a national apprenticeship is not solely a matter for the Department as the process, set out by the National Apprentice Office (NAO), requires the development of an apprenticeship to be carried out by the sector itself. The Department are aware of, and are participating in, conversations between the sector and the National Apprenticeship office. |
|
Examine the establishment of a professional register for childminders and early years educators, reflecting professionalisation of the sector. |
First 5 commits to move incrementally towards the regulation of the Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare profession, building on the establishment in 2020 of the Qualifications Advisory Board and the future creation of a workforce register. Nurturing Skills restates this commitment to move incrementally towards the regulation of the profession during the lifetime of Nurturing Skills. The work of the Qualifications Advisory Board aims to ensure a rigorous qualification recognition process is a key first step to the introduction of a professional register. |
|
Examine and expand the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) and make it available to younger children. |
An independent evaluation of AIM was published in January 2024. Based on the evaluation’s findings, AIM is now being extended on a phased basis as funding becomes available. Since September 2024, targeted AIM supports are available to ECCE-eligible children outside of ECCE hours—both during term time and in holiday periods. The Department is assessing the policy implications and mechanisms required to extend AIM to children under three, recognising that their needs differ from those currently supported under the model. A tailored model will be designed to support this younger age group, which will require dedicated funding and will be considered through the Annual Budget process. An additional €3.23 million was announced for AIM under Budget 2026, which will have a total allocation of €84.04 million in 2026. This will support up to 9,000 children with a disability requiring AIM supports to access and participate in the ECCE programme in 2026, |
|
Resource and transform the Supply Management Unit into a Forward Planning and Delivery Unit within the Department to identify areas of need, forecast demand and deliver public supply within the childcare sector where required. |
This unit is now a Forward Planning and Delivery Unit. Additional staff have been allocated over the course of 2025 and 2026. A Forward Planning Model has been developed which can identify areas of supply/demand misalignment. A State-led early learning and childcare capital programme has been established with an allocation of €135m and project proposals are being developed and advanced. |
|
Provide capital investment to build or purchase state-owned childcare facilities, to create additional capacity in areas where unmet need exists. |
€135 million will be made available between 2026 and 2030 for the State-led Early Learning and Childcare capital programme, providing high-quality, accessible early learning and childcare. The process has begun this year with preparations for investment in buildings in what is a ground-breaking initiative for the Department of Children, Disability and Equality. Capital funding will be used to acquire and/or fit out the building, depending on requirements. The Department will work with not-for-profit providers to design, open and operate services. Up to eight buildings will be selected for investment this year. The State-led initiative will provide thousands of places up to 2030 using the €135 million provided in the National Development Plan. |
|
Plan the development of State-led facilities in tandem with the school building programme, including Irish-medium naíonraí. |
The potential for development of State-led facilities in tandem with the school building programme is being considered as part of the wider capital plans to develop the State-Led Early Learning and Childcare Capital Programme. Officials have met a number of times with officials from the Department of Education’s Planning and Building Unit with a view to sharing expertise and information between the Departments and identifying opportunities for future developments. |
|
Work with schools to host before and after-school care, and examine start-up supports for groups involved in afterschool activities. |
Guidance on making available school buildings for early learning and childcare and other community uses is provided by the Department of Education and Youth in “Procedures on use of school buildings and sports facilities outside of school hours” published in 2024. Supporting the provision of after-school childcare in particular is strongly encouraged. 22.5% of ELC and SAC provision is delivered on school sites. School Age Childcare registrations grew by 77% from 2022 to 2025. |
|
Review the 2001 Childcare Facilities Guidelines for Planning Authorities to ensure childcare spaces are provided and put into use. |
To progress this commitment, an Early Learning and Childcare Planning Matters Working Group was established in 2024 and has met a number of times since then. It includes officials from the Department of Children, Disability and Equality; the Department of Housing, Local Government, and Heritage; and the Department of Education and Youth. Members of the Group have also met with local authority planning officials, nominated by the County and City Management Association Planning and Land Use Committee to identify important considerations for the review. These considerations include ensuring that buildings developed on foot of the guidelines meet the needs of the local population and are fit for purpose; and balancing the need to ensure sufficient provision for children and families, regardless of the size or housing type of the development, with ensuring that buildings are effectively operated as intended. These issues will inform a wider engagement with local authorities and other stakeholders which is currently at planning stage. |
|
Ensure childcare providers’ fees are open, transparent and equitable and readily available to parents. |
In July 2025, the Department commenced a Core Funding Fee Table Approval process, wherein CCCs reviewed the 2025/2026 fee tables of services that applied to the Fee Increase Assessment process in programme year 2024/2025. Accompanied by new fee table rules in programme year 2025/2026 and a fee table guideline document, this exercise promoted compliance with and understanding of scheme rules among Partner Services, as well as transparency for parents through simplification and standardisation of fee table data. For programme year 2026/2027, the fee tables of all Partner Services will be subject to the review and approval of their CCCs. |
|
Review and increase core funding, ensuring the fee cap is maintained and that the model is open, transparent and equitable, and that early years educators in the private sector benefit from Employment Regulation Orders. |
In September 2025, the maximum fee caps were lowered and extended to apply to all Core Funding Partner Services, having been introduced for new Partner Services in September 2024.
Recently, it was announced that the maximum fee caps will be lowered again from September 2026. Under these new caps, no parent will pay more than €280 for care of between 40 and 50 hours per week, the most common type of full day place, prior to the deduction of National Childcare Scheme or ECCE programme subsidies. €21.4 million in brand new full-year funding was secured in Budget 2026 to support providers in adhering to Core Funding fee management conditions, including reduced fee caps, from the beginning of the fifth year of the Scheme in September. This will guarantee that Core Funding’s monetary protections will continue to be passed on to families while ensuring sustainability and stability for the sector. Since Core Funding was introduced, its effectiveness has been subject to ongoing assessment, which has facilitated the iterative evolution of this scheme.
An evaluation of the first year of Core Funding and the development of an evaluation framework for Core Funding is currently underway. This project will examine the early implementation of Core Funding and make recommendations for future evaluations of the grant supporting efficient and expedient reviews of subsequent years of the scheme. Investment in Core Funding has increased each year since its introduction in 2022 and exceeds €390 million in the current fourth year of the Scheme. This represents an increase of over 50% in Core Funding in three years.
Within the Core Funding allocation for the 2025/26 programme year, €45 million was ringfenced to support employers to meet the costs of the latest increases to the minimum rates of pay in the sector.
A new pay element of the Core Funding grant calculation, the Staff Funding Additional Contribution (SFAC), was introduced to centre-based Partner Services to facilitate the distribution of this ringfenced funding. Further investment in Core Funding was announced in Budget 2026. The additional funding being made available in 2026 will see the allocation for Core Funding in the next programme year (which begins in September 2026) increase to over €480 million. That is an additional €90 million on the current full year allocation, or a 23% increase.
The increased allocation also includes up to €45 million (in additional funding) to facilitate improved pay for early years educators and school-age childcare practitioners through enhancement of the Employment Regulation Orders (EROs) in Year 5 of the scheme. A second Staff Funding Additional Contribution element (SFAC2) will distribute this ringfenced funding in the 2026/2027 programme year. This allocation will be released once new EROs are agreed. Partner Services will continue to receive the SFAC payment that commenced in 2025/2026 from the start of the programme year 5, irrespective of the establishment of new EROs. |
|
Continue to build up the Equal Start programme, ensuring children experiencing disadvantage can access and participate fully in early learning and childcare. |
Equal Start is a funding model and a set of associated universal and targeted measures to support access and meaningful participation in early learning and care (ELC) and school-age childcare (SAC) for children and their families who experience disadvantage. In 2026 to date, 824 services are receiving Equal Start targeted supports, serving over 38,000 children. Other achievements to date include: - Rollout of the ‘Bia Blasta’ pre-school nutrition programme, which commenced on 1 October 2025 for Equal Start designated services providing the ECCE Programme. - Rollout of the Traveller Parenting Support Programme in 17 Tusla areas, with responsibilities on Family Link Workers to engage with Traveller parents of young children, supporting them to attend and participate in ELC and SAC. - Appointment of Traveller and Roma Advisory Specialists to work in Better Start to promote inclusive ELC and SAC. - Roll-out of Early Talk Boost – an intervention for language delay - to settings with an Equal Start designation. |
|
Explore making available an extra hour of ECCE each day in the second year of preschool. |
Policy analysis is underway to consider the implications of this change for children, parents and providers. It is being considered in the context of the results of the 2024 ECCE review and the development of Phase 2 of the Shaping the Future Action Plan. |
|
We will continue to grow State involvement and investment in the sector, while working in partnership with private providers, recognising this is an important element of supply |
The original allocation for ELC and SAC increased from €1.109bn in 2024 to €1.375bn in 2025. The allocation for 2026 will be €1.524bn. In addition, €24.8m was provided for BOTP and IPAS in 2024, €10.6m in 2025 and €11m in 2026. Over the same period, the capital allocation increased from €20m to €30m and will be €43.7m in 2026. |
|
Evaluate options to amend the ECCE eligibility criteria. |
Policy analysis is underway to consider the implications of this change for children, parents and providers. It is being considered in the context of the results of the 2024 ECCE review and the development of Phase 2 of the Shaping the Future Action Plan. |
|
Expand the provision for newborns and their parents of a Baby Bundle, comprising essential items to support them from day one. |
The evaluation of the pilot Baby Bundle was completed. Revised costings and an updated Baby Bundle was prepared to reflect the evaluation. An additional pilot will get underway from September 2026 in Dublin’s north-east inner city. This will test staying in contact with new parents for a year after birth sending families monthly information on baby’s development and supports offered by the State. |
|
Enhance the National Childcare Scheme Income-Assessed Subsidy |
Enhancements to the income-assessed subsidy are being introduced from September 2026, raising the base threshold from €26,000 to €34,000 and the maximum threshold from €60,000 to €68,000, with additional increases to the multiple child discounts.
|
