Aidan Farrelly
Kildare North · Social Democrats · Ireland
“I thank the Minister. If she will indulge me, it is very rare I get the opportunity to speak about my life experience prior to being in here but I have been a youth worker for about 16 years or the guts of three Dáil terms. The day before the general election I submitted my PhD thesis, which was on professional youth work.”
“In the past year, the number of children admitted to Temple Street with brain injuries from accidents on e-scooters has increased by 50%. I think we have agreement across the House that this is an ever-worsening public health crisis at this point. It is clear that the ban on under-16s using e-scooters has been a monumental failure.”
“It is acceptable that data will be shared with the task force in September but I ask that it be shared more widely once the terms of reference have been agreed. It would be really useful for the academic sector and for those who are in the market of training and professionally qualifying youth workers in the field.”
“Crucially, gardaí must be given the resources and the appropriate training to be able to pursue and enforce what is current legislation. The fourth piece, the bike-to-work scheme, has been an incredible success.”
“Actually, youth work is an occupation and profession that is one of the best jobs to have but we need to make sure the landscape is there for budding youth workers to go through appropriate professional qualification programmes and that the job will fulfil them not just from a rewarding job perspective but also from a financial perspectiv…”
“When the Minister says that advisory group is going to meet in September, who makes up the membership of that? The information the Minister's Department has collected is golden with regard to the sector. Will the Minister publish the findings of that survey? It would be really useful information.”
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“Having purchased a home or entered a tenancy agreement, the attention of the family turns to securing a place for their child in the local childcare facility. The chances are that they will be refused. I have heard stories of people taking days or weeks off work to just ring around and visit facilities in the hope of securing a place. They might be offered a spot on the waiting list but they will need to join a queue that is hundreds and hundreds long. That is no reflection on the service. I do not know of one childcare facility in Kildare that is not operating at full capacity. Nonetheless, Government policy will not fix this problem. It is time to admit how difficult it is for parents, families, the incredible workers in the sector and service providers.”
“With population growth like we have seen in Kildare, it is not rocket science to understand that services and infrastructure will come under pressure. Whether it is housing, education, transport or healthcare, all too often the basics required to live and raise a family in Kildare require luck or patience to avail of them. Today, however, we are here to discuss childcare and early years services in Kildare. I again thank the Minister of State for being here to listen. I am here to advocate on behalf of the hundreds of parents in Kildare with whom I have spoken about this issue alone: young parents who have either moved to Kildare in recent years, or who themselves have grown up and proudly remain in Kildare. The common story is this.”
“I cite the wonderful work of the All-Ireland Research Observatory, Kildare LCDC and the county council which, following census 2022, embarked on a comprehensive project to better understand Kildare. This research was published in 2024. It includes some statistics about childcare and early years education. Childcare fees in County Kildare are above the State average. Kildare has the lowest rate of community-based childcare facilitates in the State, with only 5% of services classed as community services. The national average is 24%. The rate of our neighbours in Carlow is 35%. Kildare is unique not just for its beauty, but also for its population. Communities are thriving but need and deserve Government attention.”
“I thank the Acting Chair for sitting so late. I also thank the Minister of State for her time here this evening. County Kildare is in desperate need of the Government's attention. Despite being the fifth most populated local authority area in the State, with a population four times larger than our neighbours in Carlow, we rarely receive the appropriate national attention required. Kildare's growth continues to outpace that of the State. Since 1991, the population in Kildare has doubled to 247,000 in 2022. lf Kildare continues to grow at such a pace, we can expect to have a population of 500,000 people by 2050. Kildare has the second youngest average age of all counties in Ireland and the fourth highest birthrate. One third of Kildare's population is aged zero to 24 years. One in four of Kildare's population is aged under 17 years.”
“We want to avoid a situation similar to the one that came to pass last year arising again. Like Deputy Byrne, I sit on the Committee of Public Accounts. We see the importance of that committee as the mechanism for achieving real accountability for the expenditure of public funds. I understand the merits of what the Minister said about not giving the Bill a Second Reading and maybe with more detail, we could support that position. I commend the Deputies and Sinn Féin.”
“I thank the Minister. I also thank Deputies Ó Snodaigh and Byrne for doing so much work on the Bill beforehand. I have come to the House to offer a welcome and support. I have not yet had the opportunity to see the details of the general scheme but, taking the Government at its word, it certainly seems like what the Minister has done in the first number of months in his role is positive in terms of steps towards accountability and transparency. From where I sit, I see both sides, and ultimately all sides, of the House trying to get to the same destination but maybe looking at the issue in different ways in terms of the pathway to reach that destination. I see merits in both pathways. If the Minister could provide Members with details of the general scheme, that would be very relevant.”
“I really welcome our speaking so positively this evening about increased budgets and I wish the Minister and those working with her in her Department continued success. However, with regard to childcare and early years services, we will have to press pause at some point and question the way in which we are distributing the funding. Is it being spent in the right way to yield the maximum output for children, staff and families?”
“I encourage the Minister to continue to prioritise investment in family resource centres to get to a place where we might be considering a universal approach to family resource centre delivery in terms of capital projects. Specifically on disability, I have experience of working as a social care worker in the St. John of God services in Celbridge, County Kildare, and Walkinstown, Dublin, and I have worked with the Ability programme in Kildare. All of these programmes are doing phenomenal work but, as the Minister will be very much aware, they are doing it on a bit of a shoestring. I really meant it when I said the Minister will not find better bang for her buck than in the brief she holds. Any euro spent in the sector under her brief will be returned to the State and society tenfold.”
“As we did with the healthcare system, let us consider it together. We have a genuine opportunity to do that. I echo Deputy Wall’s comments on family resource centres. I worked in some and worked in collaboration with many as a youth worker over the years. If you want bang for your buck in terms of investment, you will not find much better than the family resource centre in your community. We believe every community should have one. Their cost is minuscule considering their impact on children, young people, adults and communities. They are hubs, supportive places, spaces for information-sharing and ultimately places where children, young people and their families can be, learn and develop together.”
“Deputy Wall has already referred to the recruitment and retention issue facing the phenomenal staff who are working for our children, families and communities, and to the ability to access services and the way in which we are delivering capital projects. A key to success in this regard for the Government would be to really ramp up the community childcare facilities. I used to work in the LHD in Newbridge as a youth worker and I saw at first hand the incredible work being done there. It was a really positive example of what community childcare can look like. The outcomes for the children involved were remarkable. I appeal to the Minister to genuinely consider this model alongside considering a vision for the future of childcare and early years services that entails a public model that would complement the private model.”
“Deputy Wall and I have both experienced this in Kildare. We must question the way we distribute funding through early years services and whether our childcare model represents the right way to do things. I have raised the issue of páistecare in this House before. It is something I hope to raise with the committee. I appeal to the Minister to consider a special committee on this in the Oireachtas. We should do for childcare and early years education what we did for health through Sláintecare. This would mean working with key stakeholders to spell out a vision for the future of our early years and childcare sectors.”
“Notwithstanding the very impressive sum the Government is committing to the sector, I appeal to the Minister to question, over the term of this Dáil, the way in which we are spending money. I am aware that I probably sound like a broken record here, and I apologise to colleagues for that, but our expenditure really does remind us of the way in which we used to speak about healthcare. Reference was made to record budget after record budget but, for so many, the outcomes associated with how they interacted with the sector did not change or improve. The Minister does not need me to tell her about the position of so many who are trying to access childcare and early years services, certainly where populations are growing at very unsustainable rates on foot of housing development and growth.”
“I thank the Minister for the opportunity to speak and to echo the comments made so far by my colleagues Deputies Kerrane and Wall on the eve of our first committee meeting that will take place tomorrow. The brief the Minister has before her is one that is ripe with optimism about impact and outcomes for children, young people and those affected by issues of equality in our society. I wish the Minister continued success in her brief over the next couple of years. Having had the honour of becoming spokesperson for children for the Social Democrats, over the last couple of months I embarked on a series of engagements with stakeholders involved in childcare and early years services, as I am sure the Minister has done in her brief. I have met unions, private providers and parents.”
“Deputy Paul Murphy - To discuss a public inquiry for conduct in care facilities during the Covid pandemic. Deputy Brendan Smith - To discuss the proposed building project at a school (details supplied). Deputy Catherine Connolly, Deputy Mairéad Farrell and Deputy John Connolly - To discuss the safety issues arising for a number of schools on the R336 in Galway. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness - To discuss funding for a youth mental health services centre for Waterford. The matters raised by Deputies David Cullinane and Conor McGuinness, Jen Cummins, Naoise Ó Muirí, Brendan Smith and Robert O'Donoghue have been selected for discussion.”
“Deputy Shane Moynihan - To discuss the growing demand for a secondary school in Newcastle. Deputy Pa Daly - To discuss accessibility on public transport. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan - To discuss organised crime in Limerick city. Deputy Aidan Farrelly - To discuss ongoing matters in respect of the reopening of Castletown House. Deputy David Cullinane - To discuss funding for a youth mental health services centre for Waterford. Deputy Donna McGettigan - To discuss extending the increase in the cap for the defective block grant scheme to all homeowners. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan - To discuss the tenant in situ scheme. Deputy Séamus McGrath - To discuss the long waiting period for many social welfare appeals. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire - To discuss the current shortage of school places, particularly for children with additional needs.”
“I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case: Deputy Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin - To discuss the closure of the Gorey and Courtown meals on wheels . Deputy Robert O'Donoghue - To discuss substandard water and wastewater connections at Ellen's Court, County Dublin. Deputy Brian Brennan - To discuss discrepancies in the rate of housing assistance payment limits between local authorities. Deputy John Brady - To discuss the future of the Greystones Media Campus. Deputy Naoise Ó Muirí - To discuss the need for security personnel on public transport services in north Dublin during evening hours. Deputy Jen Cummins - To discuss the impact the bus changes are having on Inchicore.”
“In Ireland, we know that one of the recommendations from the Convention on the Constitution back in 2014 recommended lowering the voting age to 16. As a youth worker, I have run many mock elections over the years encouraging young people to participate informally when they could not do so formally. Whether it was a referendum or a local or general election, the vote was nearly always mirrored in their local ballot box or nationally. Today is a landmark day that provides us, the Thirty-fourth Dáil, with an opportunity to start the process of achieving something momentous. The reduction of voting age to 16 years Bill 2025 is an opportunity to tell the 16 and 17 year olds of Ireland that we value them and their voice, that we trust them and their power, and that we need them and their participation.”
“If one can work full-time and pay taxes, it is only fair to afford that person with the formal opportunity to influence how these taxes are spent locally and nationally. Like 35% to 40% of people aged 18-plus who choose not to vote, many aged 16 and 17, if afforded the opportunity, will also choose not to. Instead, I am asking us today to focus on who will - the many thousands who care about their communities and their society and who are as passionate about politics, public administration and civic duty as their peers aged 18-plus. Other countries like Austria, Argentina, some states in Germany, Brazil, Scotland, Wales and Greece have all lowered their voting age from 18. Just recently, the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer restated his Government's ambition to legislate for 16 and 17 year olds to be able to vote.”
“I will take the opportunity to thank those who came from the National Youth Council of Ireland today to speak in support of the Bill. Notably, I pay tribute to Ms Mary Cunningham, who has in her role as CEO, been a leader in promoting young people's voices, rights and participation for many years. She retires later this year. In deciding the appropriate age to vote, it is an issue of fairness not competence; of equality not maturity. At 16 years of age one can work 40 hours per week and pay associated taxes. One can hold a dog licence to keep a dog, one can consent to medical treatment and at 17 years of age one can legally drive an eight-seater car. People aged 16 and 17 are as civically informed as their peers aged 18-plus but are unjustly restricted when it comes to democratic participation.”
“Tairgim: Go gceadófar go dtabharfar isteach Bille dá ngairtear Acht chun an Bunreacht a leasú. I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the Constitution. This Bill is the Forty-first Amendment of the Constitution (Reduction of Voting Age to Sixteen Years) Bill 2025. I take the opportunity to thank the OPLA and the Bills Office for their support in preparing this Bill for introduction. I commend the work of Senator Lynn Ruane, former Senator Fintan Warfield, Deputy Malcolm Byrne, Deputy Erin McGreehan, Senator Mary Fitzpatrick, and most recently, former Deputy Thomas Pringle who have brought similar Bills forward. This is the first piece of legislation I have laid before the Oireachtas as a TD and one of inherent importance to me as a father, a youth worker and a citizen of Ireland.”
“Is it the Government's intention to review the memorandum of understanding and will the Minister direct that the CEA immediately initiate an organisational capability review to run in parallel with the workplace culture audit given the very important caseload before the CEA, for example, the case of the FAI?”
“At the weekend, Mark Tighe reported in the Sunday Independent on the apparent toxic workplace environment and irreparable damage happening at the Corporate Enforcement Agency. In his piece, Mr. Tighe referenced the disintegration of the CEA's leadership team and the gaps in experienced police investigators. Many of those posts are vacant or were never filled at Garda sergeant and inspector ranks. According to the piece, soon just three of 16 gardaí that can be employed will remain. The memorandum of understanding between the Garda Commissioner and the Corporate Enforcement Agency, CEA, appears not to be worth the piece of paper it was written on in terms of the allocation of resources and secondments.”
“With that in mind, the motion gives assurances to communities that we can seek consistency in our policy, in our planning and in what we hope, whether it is for our children or our children's children, that there will be a level of ambition there and that there is choice, to come back to that word. I accept the amendment. There is a culture here whereby, irrespective of the Private Members' business, it is changed and amended and we go with what the programme for Government says. This motion actually just seeks to reiterate what the previous programme for Government had committed to. With that in mind, I ask while we have time between now and the voting block that the Government might consider withdrawing that amendment.”
“I reiterate my call for the forward planning teams in the Department to really engage with community leaders where there are issues of capacity. We need to work together. Rather than asking parents who are already under so much pressure to have to campaign themselves for the opening of new schools or extensions, we should get our forward planning in tandem with our population growth. Before giving way to my colleague Deputy Cummins, I implore the Minister of State and the Government to consider withdrawing this amendment. All we have asked for in this motion is for the policy ambition of previous Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil governments to be continued with regard to a target. We are not asking for anything that has not been in previous programmes for government.”
“Youth work does similar but it is also stipulated that it is complementary to the full-time education that children and young people experience. What is so powerful about youth work is that young people choose to engage. Ultimately, this debate boils down to choice: choice for children and young people, choice for their parents, choice for communities and choice for the staff in communities. What we hope to achieve and the purpose of this motion is that our entire community has an inclusive opportunity to be engaged in our full-time education system. The Minister of State will be aware that we have a capacity issue in many areas when it comes to education. Many parents would simply accept any offer of an education place at this point. That is no compliment of the system. The system is fractured when that is the case.”
“I thank the Minister of State for his contribution. I commend the work of my colleague Deputy Jen Cummins - or, of particular interest and of importance in this debate, Dr. Jen Cummins - who has dedicated her professional life to education, both formal and informal. I say that just to add even further credibility to the validity of this motion. This is evidence-informed and it is important that we are discussing this. I ask the Minister of State to reflect on the contributions we have made and their content. I have been a youth worker for about 15 years. The Education Act stipulates that youth work is complementary to a young person's formal and academic qualifications. We have heard other contributions today about some of the key ethical and value-based interventions that formal education can make.”
“They are locked out of work, education and opportunities to play roles in society that they would like to achieve. I know it is work the Minister of State would like to achieve and Deputy Kerrane also is passionate about this issue. We have the opportunity to do something during the term of this Government but first I would begin by stating there are significant deficits. If we start with that and commit to that roadmap with a special committee for páistecare we have the opportunity to move something very positive this evening.”
“Over the lifetime of this Government we have an opportunity to progress something that would not only speak to Sinn Féin’s motion and the wider work the alliance seeks to achieve in the public model of childcare and early years education but also would give the Government the opportunity to hear directly in a formal way and bring recommendations to this House as to what that vision would look like. I would appreciate careful consideration being given to our amendment to the motion this evening. It is right that childcare and equality are part of the same Department because this is an issue of equality. It is not just geographical equality but also what happens to young families, to children and particularly to young mothers when they do not have access to childcare and early years education for their kids.”
“We believe it is time to bring everybody to the table for a special Oireachtas committee on early years education and childcare in order that we could map what that vision looks like, whether it is public or hybrid; whether it is hearing the voices of the workers, service providers, parents and the higher education institutions that are preparing the professionals to go out but that often watch these graduates choose a different career because there is something quite unsustainable about choosing a career of early years education and childcare right now. I appeal to the Minister of State. I will move my amendment and hopefully it will pass and then we could look at forming that special committee.”
“This would be the equivalent to what Sláintecare was for the healthcare system in Ireland many years ago. We hear similar rhetoric and Government policy to the effect that we have record levels of spending in early years and childcare and have reduced capacity issues in some places. We have a real momentum behind the policy but we do not have the vision. What Sláintecare did was provide a vision for the future of healthcare in Ireland.”
“The partnership for the public good report acknowledged that childcare and early years is a public good. Access to that or to any public good should not rely on luck. From speaking to many parents and having experienced it myself, I know that often it does come down to luck, that is if a space comes up and if you have been on the waiting list for long enough. Capacity is an issue that continues. I commend the work of the alliance, which I have met as, I am sure, have others, of the National Women’s Council and the 40 other organisations that are trying to achieve something monumental in the shift in public childcare and early years education. Again, this is something we support but we are really enthusiastic about what a roadmap to that would look like. That is why we tabled our amendment. We believe it is time for the idea of páistecare.”
“In summary, with the greatest respect to it, it is only the Government that thinks what is going on in childcare and early years policy is working. Everyone else has identified significant structural issues which face the sector. That is why we fully support the motion this evening and have tabled an amendment to add to it in relation to how we believe we might roadmap the future and the vision for early years education and childcare in Ireland. The programme for Government was relatively weak in that regard. It hung itself up on the idea of cost but ignored the real issue of recruitment and retention, as well as that of capacity. I acknowledge the Minister of State’s words about the Government’s efforts to acquire public buildings to increase that capacity but it is stopping quite short of developing what should be a public good.”
“I thank Deputy Kerrane and her colleagues in Sinn Féin for proposing this motion. We have had many conversations about childcare in recent months since I have been the spokesperson for childcare but, more importantly, since my time as a parent to three young children. I have been really interested in the similarities that face the early years education and childcare sector with the healthcare sector and the transformation we have seen in that sector in recent years. In the last couple of months I have met many key stakeholders in the sector including service providers, workers, parents, unions and associations that represent the sector. The common theme across all these meetings has been a lack of vision for what the future of early years childcare looks like.”
“In 2023, 5,500 safeguarding notifications regarding concerns relating to adults aged over 65 years were submitted to the HSE safeguarding and protection teams. In a response from the Minister for Justice this week, he said that while criminal offences in general, including coercion, harassment, theft and so on apply across the board, the coercive control legislation specifically applies to a spouse, civil partner or person who is or was in an intimate relationship with another person. It does not extend to children taking care of parents. Is it the plan of this Government to make abuse or controlling behaviour of a parent by a caring adult child or relative a prescribed offence?”
“Before we move on, I will briefly welcome a group of fifth year students to the Public Gallery. They are peer mentors from Enfield Community College in Enfield, County Meath. They are doing incredible work. We can see them up there and we look forward to seeing some of them down here in the coming years. I congratulate them and thank their principal, Shane, and teacher, Gráinne, for doing that. You are all very welcome this morning.”
“Will the Taoiseach commit to listening to independent pharmacies and review a programme that, potentially, will not be implementable, according to many pharmacists?”
“We are set to see the roll-out of the free HRT programme on 1 June. I commend the work of the Government on trying to progress this. However, I must represent the significant concerns raised with me about the feasibility of the implementation of the programme as it currently stands. Independent pharmacies are not seeking to profit from implementing this programme, but the Taoiseach must admit that they should be able to break even when doing so. The Irish Pharmacy Union has published independent research that suggests that €6.50 is the appropriate service fee that should be available to pharmacists when implementing this programme. As it currently stands, the fee is set to be €5.”
“We have thousands of kids who should be able to avail of the facility but right now it is only a League of Ireland academy, essentially, that is getting to use the facility. We need to see that improve. I would appreciate if the Minister of State would give his time and attention to that. I commend the Government on its commitment to sports. We see the outcomes for kids' and young people's physical and mental health. It makes such a difference and there is proper bang for buck from sports investment. I commend the Minister of State, wish him the best in his brief and thank him for the opportunity to raise this. I look forward to meeting with him again. I hope, once the report is published, he will meet with the interim executive in KDUL to get to the heart of the issue.”
“I thank the Minister of State. I appreciate that. It ultimately boils down to governance. When we are talking about such significant sums of money given to wonderful groups that are based in our communities and doing important work, these issues will be rare. At the same time, we may see evidence of or signposts towards grave concerns in terms of the end product. The Minister of State mentioned spot checks. I will not pin him to it now but I would appreciate if he and his Department would consider examining the process in terms of the outcome. It seems the fund was spent. Certainly, we have a state-of-the-art facility now but the problem is that who is getting to use it does not seem to match up with what was applied for.”
“Will he commit to re-examining the €350,000 sports capital grant awarded to KDUL and use all powers available to him to ensure the intended recipients have full responsibility for and full access to the site?”
“It was not the intention of the Minister of the day to award such a grant to the KDUL Academy but to the thousands of players in clubs throughout Kildare who should have this facility available to them but do not. Thanks to the dedication of the interim executive, football continues to flourish in Kildare. However, on behalf of the children and young people, the parents and volunteers in Kildare want what is rightfully theirs handed over. The executive has sent the Department correspondence which outlines some observations and questions, and I appreciate the Minister of State taking the time to acknowledge this. Will he commit to meeting the interim executive when it publishes the independent report?”
“I will focus on one specific area that I hope the Minister of State will be able to examine. The interim KDUL committee has commissioned forensic accountants to examine the bank accounts of the league because it is reported that the league's assets were transferred to a separate legal entity, the KDUL Academy CLG, between 2020 and 2024. I am going to repeat that. The league's assets were transferred to a separate legal entity. The league is simply made up of thousands of kids, parents and volunteers. Despite paying annual subscriptions, a portion of which were kicked up to the KDUL committee, it was reported that the league had no assets in 2022 apart from a set of gear. A sports capital grant of €350,000 was awarded to the KDUL to develop a new facility in 2006.”
“I have seen fellow parents dedicate their free time to the development of the game in their local clubs or even at county level. The work ranges from grass cutting to running table quizzes, from registering players to painting dressing rooms and from marking pitches to making burgers, all for the kids. One can imagine the collective shock and concern when we read Mark Tighe's excellent reporting in the Sunday Independent of alleged financial irregularities that have been ongoing for many years in Kildare underage soccer. Questions first arose about the KDUL finances when Ian Mallon wrote about it for the Irish Examiner in 2023. The media have been asking questions for many years. The clubs have been asking questions. It is time for answers to be forthcoming.”
“I can only stress that the number of clubs that have not yet benefited from this fund continue to far outweigh those that have. The Government's continued commitment to sports capital projects should remain a priority. I raise an issue of critical importance to the governance and oversight of significant sums of public funds taken from the CSFF. Two of my boys play soccer in the Kildare and district underage league, KDUL. I am a proud coach of the Prosperous United under-14 team. It has been the highlight of my week for many years now to take training sessions on a Thursday evening and to prepare for a soccer game on a Saturday morning. It is a unique privilege to play such an important role in the lives of young men and women.”
“I thank the Minister of State for being here. The community sports facilities fund, CSFF, is seen by clubs and groups throughout this country as a vital cog in the revenue raising machine, specifically when it comes to development or expansion works that sports clubs might require in order to grow. I know that in County Kildare, the fund is very much relied upon for the development of pitches, clubhouses and other relevant infrastructure. In 2024, the Government stated that it allocated more than €250 million to community sports clubs and facilities. I commend the previous Government on its commitment to sport. I wish the Minister of State well as he embarks on a review of this fund. I look forward to seeing the outcome of the review.”
“I again call on the Minister to take the opportunity for implementation of a committee like this. We could all see the benefits of that in the long run.”
“The scale of what the Government is proposing, and what parents are demanding and what the sector deserves, is very significant. To see that type of growth and investment requires strategic cross-party thinking on this. I wrote to the Minister a couple of weeks ago proposing that we establish a special select time-bound committee, páistecare, which would perform a similar role to and take an approach like that of Sláintecare, to spell out the vision for the future of childcare and early education in Ireland. There is real merit to that in the context of what is going on from the Government side and the cross-party ideas about it. It would be an opportunity to listen to the sector and the key stakeholders and to report back on the future of childcare, certainly with regard to public provision.”
“I thank the Minister for her reply. The Social Democrats believe that solving the systemic problems facing the childcare sector in Ireland will not happen by doing more of the same. A triple threat is facing the sector. We cannot ignore that any longer. A dearth of places faces children and young people. There is a real capacity issue in many counties. There is also a lack of affordability for parents. The third key piece is very much the issue of compensation and benefits for a sector that is providing such a crucial component and role for our society - we are seeing a recruitment and retention crisis play out before our eyes. The 2021 partnership for the public good report acknowledged that early years and childcare is a public good, yet we continue to rely solely on the private market to meet that public good.”
“The programme for Government outlines an ambitious plan to progressively reduce the cost of childcare to €200 per month, and commits to a review and increase of core funding, a reduction in the administrative burden on providers, capital investment to build State-owned childcare facilities and so much more. What steps has the Minister taken to progress these actions? Will she outline what plans are currently in motion?”
“Given that public commitment to the sector, the crucial importance of the sector and with committees being actively considered, will the Government consider the establishment of "páistecare", a Sláintecare approach to what is very important work, and to spell out a cross-party and long-term vision for what childcare and early years education will look like in Ireland?”