Claire Kerrane
Roscommon-Galway · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“For carers and the loved ones they care for, respite is really important. It should not be beyond us to ensure that respite is guaranteed and consistent rather than having a situation where service providers go year to year looking at lists of people in terms of who they can and cannot give respite to due to funding implications.”
“Approximately 160 of the 13,000 to 15,000 childminders in the State have signed up. There is clearly an issue. No matter how hard the consultation was in terms of its significance, it clearly has not worked. There is a major issue and there is a huge job of work to be done.”
“The Minister's amendment also speaks about parent's leave and benefit, maternity leave and the leave available specifically to two-parent families. There is an ongoing anomaly, which I have raised many times, for one-parent families. It would cost a small amount of money.”
“It is as though we are reading two different motions. Contrary to what both Ministers have said, the motion is not just about affordability and accessibility. In fact, in that first €10 a day childcare plan in 2024, I ensured it was not just about affordability and accessibility, as I have done with this motion.”
“There has not been one year where the Minister has not had to go out of her way to get the JLC to the table to actually deliver on pay. Most times, they end up in the Labour Court. I cannot fathom how that can be in any way called an effective approach to pay. There are educators who would earn more in a supermarket in many cases.”
“I met some who said to me that they find it difficult to do a four-year degree and come out to earn an amount of money per hour that they could earn in the local supermarket. That is no level of respect for these professionals, without whom we would have no childcare sector and would not have to worry about places or cost.”
The complete record
Every one of 397 lines we hold for Claire Kerrane, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 4 of 8.
“This is the third motion brought forward by Sinn Féin in relation to the Mercosur deal. The Government's position was not clear here in Ireland. On Wednesday, the Taoiseach said a lot of progress had been made, and then, on Thursday, he said we were not backing Mercosur. We had our motion last month in this Chamber, when the Minister for agriculture refused to categorically state the Government’s opposition to this deal. If the Government’s position was not clear here in Ireland, then I would imagine it was not clear at all in Europe. Our Dáil motion in 2019 gave a clear mandate to the Government to go out to Europe to build alliances and to build a block against the Mercosur deal. That clearly did not happen. The calls that have been made in the motion brought forward this evening are very important.”
“I appreciate all of that and I thank the Minister for those updates. It would be really helpful for her to provide to the Departments and agencies involved a time frame to ensure that each of the recommendations made by the national review panel is met. As I said, we will get further recommendations and more work is needed in these areas. That is why it is so important to have a clear and specific timeframe that the Department and agencies, particularly Tusla, are working towards. These recommendations need to be implemented as quickly as possible; nobody disagrees with that. As the Minister in this Department, she should provide them with a time frame for this really important work.”
“That makes it really important that the ones we have in front of us now are implemented as quickly as possible. It goes without saying that is exactly what the Minister wants. When a number of agencies and Departments are involved, a timeframe would be helpful.”
“With a number of Departments and agencies involved, it is really important that one person has oversight for ensuring that each of the recommendations is implemented as quickly as possible. I imagine that recommendations such as guidance, reviewing the protocol between the Garda and Tusla, and reviews of GDPR should all be initiated very quickly and some of them will be able to be implemented very quickly. Given the nature of the review panel's work, it is really important that we have a clear timeline for each of the Departments and the agencies involved so they are working to a specific timeframe to complete the work that needs to be done. That would be really important given we are going to see further recommendations from further reviews of the NRP.”
“I ask the Minister for a timeframe for the implementation of the recent recommendations that have been published by the national review panel. Given the Kyran Durnin case, which the NRPl examined, it is really important that we have a very clear timeframe for when each of these recommendations must be implemented.”
“I ask that for the next term, which the Minister has said will be two years, a time frame be put in place so an annual report can be expected annually.”
“I thank the Minister. I appreciate that the special rapporteur is considering the year before she took up her role. It would be great to see the reports from her term in the first instance, but I welcome that the reports are imminent, if that is the case. I find it bizarre that, despite someone being appointed to the role in February 2023, we are now almost at the end of her term and still have not had an annual report. I hope that with the next appointment, we will have annual reports. As the Minister said, this is a really important body of work. I cannot fathom how, despite somebody’s having been appointed in February 2023 in the expectation that they would publish three annual reports, we have not had a single annual report at the end the person’s three-year term.”
“Unless I am missing something, the Minister should have received by now an annual report from somebody who was appointed in February 2023 and who is almost at the end of her three-year term. I would have expected the reports to have been annual. I take the Minister’s point entirely that the role is extremely important. It is about our child protection system in Ireland. There are few things more important, particularly in the Minister’s Department. Was there an expectation or a timeline concerning annual reports when the position was filled in February 2023? Has she raised the issue of having no annual report as we come to the end of the three-year term?”
“I want to ask the Minister about the awaited annual reports from the special rapporteur on child protection and when they will be published. The special rapporteur was appointed in February 2023; it is now almost 2026. It is actually coming to the end of her term and we have not seen any report whatsoever unless the Minister has. I would appreciate an update on this.”
“The HIQA report stated, "It was a significant concern, given that the significant risk’s identified in the April 2024 inspection, that the Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) returned by the provider in advance of the [June 2025] inspection had deemed the service area to be substantially compliant ..." Of course, it was not. HIQA was misled. I would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge the very many good social workers but where they do not have the resources, their hands are tied. This should be a lesson to all of us in terms of what can go on in some of these services. Consistent oversight is needed.”
“When the word "allocated" is used, the figures look like a child is allocated to a social worker and therefore getting support but we also know from the HIQA report that some children were allocated to staff on extended statutory leave and had received no contact. We need to be careful in relation to what "allocated" actually means and that it is not just that a case is allocated but the case and the child concerned in that case is actually being seen and getting the support needed. There is also a need for consistent oversight.”
“I welcome if it is now two days. The likes of these cases really need to be checked on. We know the service also said things were done that were not done which was found when the inspection follow-up took place. I ask that a really close eye is kept on this.”
“I am glad to hear, and obviously the Minister has had it confirmed, that progress has been made in relation to the very serious findings not only in the initial inspection in April 2024 but also when HIQA went in well over a year later in June 2025 and things were not much improved at all. One example HIQA gave was a child with a disability who was non-verbal awaiting completion of a preliminary inquiry and safety planning for over two months. It reminded me, I have to say, of the Grace case - a non-verbal child with a disability waiting two months. Many other examples were given. There was an allegation of physical abuse by a parent against a child and they waited over four weeks. It was found the service was not safe, adequate or timely and where the screening for Tusla is supposed to be 24 hours, it was taking six months.”
“That is a mistake and it is probably why we only have 150 registered out of tens of thousands of childminders in this State. That should cause concern. I welcome that the Minister said the review will be as close as possible to quarter 1 of 2026. I welcome that because I am not making it up - I hope the Minister takes me at my word - that childminders are leaving the sector. We cannot afford to lose them. We need that review as quickly as possible in the new year.”
“We have to be clear; I have not met a childminder who has an issue with regulations. Most of them have first aid training, insurance and Garda vetting. They have much of it in place for so many years already. That is not the issue. Rather, the issue lies with the inspections. Inspections will form part of the regulations – we all know that – but it is about what those inspections will look like and the rooms in the family home the inspector will go into. These are details that childminders should have before and while they are registering with Tusla. Clarification like that would probably increase the numbers registering with Tusla because they are being asked to register without knowing the ins and outs of what they are signing up to.”
“These are their family homes and, at the very least, they deserve clarity in that regard. Many of us would not like a person coming in and going around our homes. They need clarity as to what the inspection regime will look like. They should get that clarity.”
“I am sure the Minister will agree that the fact that just 150 childminders to date have registered with Tusla should be causing concern. It is a tiny number compared with the overall number of childminders out there. Childminding Ireland has been excellent in its engagement on issues with the regulations. One such issue I have mentioned to the Minister before is the regulation regarding having a close contact, that is, a person who will be available at all times. That is next to near impossible. Some of the regulations are unworkable, like that one. I have met childminders and been in their homes and the big issue I am coming across relates to the inspections. They are being asked to register with Tusla but they have no idea what those inspections will look like.”
“I raise again the regulations put in place for some time now for childminders and the many issues they are facing. We know about 150 childminders out of 14,000 or 15,000 have registered with Tusla, which is a small amount. Will the review of the regulations take place early in the new year?”
“In terms of the assessments of need, the Minister's statement today mentioned new teams and new expert staff, but where are the therapists? That is the actual issue. In my own constituency there are 13 vacancies in the CDNTs 8 and 9, with 11 vacancies in speech and language, occupational therapy and psychology in primary care across Roscommon and Galway. We need the therapists. Without them we will not be able to achieve the six-month obligation for children in terms of assessment of need. However, we do not have the therapists. That is the issue in terms of workforce planning. That is the issue that needs to be looked at, whether it is CORU registration for those who qualified outside the State and come back, or whether it is the numbers coming through our colleges.”
“I acknowledge the men, women and children with disabilities who came to Leinster House earlier today in the midst of a storm. They came here to send a clear message to the Government that they are now choosing between eating and heating their homes. We heard from people who are deciding how many bars of gas they could turn on and how many more trips they can make to the food bank in a week. What a shame. What an incredible situation for a rich country in 2025, to have people in their wheelchairs travelling to Dublin today because they are struggling so hard this winter. That says a lot about this Government and its priorities. The people who were here today actually said they felt they were used during the general election, when disability was to be a priority. It has been shown once again not to be a priority.”
“I hope we will see that development of a refuge in County Roscommon because, as I said, the need is there. I hope the site that has been identified will be successful. The Minister is correct that in most of these cases, it is the woman who flees the home. That should not be the case. We should be looking at turning that around, where the abuser is the one who has to lose his home, typically, as the case may be. That is the way we should look at it. For the refuges we need, particularly in the west in counties like Roscommon and the county part of Galway, there is a need to ensure there is an adequate number of refuges, particularly in parts like the west, where there are many very rural areas. I thank the Minister. I hope we will be successful in the refuge for County Roscommon.”
“I acknowledge Cuan, the agency, and the work it is doing and the efforts that are being made to increase capacity when it comes to refuge spaces and safe houses for those who are fleeing domestic violence or violence typically in their own home. A number of sites had been identified by Roscommon Safe Link but, because of the criteria being so rigid, none of those sites was found to meet the criteria in place. We all hope that the site identified now will be the site. I would ask that in certain areas, such as County Roscommon which is rural, where the need is established and where genuine efforts have been made to find a site, that the criteria could be looked at with a little flexibility in engagement with both the safe link and the local authority because it has been a challenge in County Roscommon.”
“I raised with the Minister previously the situation in County Roscommon where they are having major difficulties in sourcing a building that meets the requirements to become a refuge. Will the Minister look at areas such as County Roscommon that, despite best efforts, are struggling to find such a building?”
“This affects women giving birth to their babies, who will have to travel farther. They are worried sick at what should be the happiest time of their lives. I am simply asking for the Minister for Health to sit down with Oireachtas Members from the area so that we, as their elected representatives, can answer, engage and tell the truth to these pregnant women.”
“Nine weeks ago, on the return of the Dáil, I wrote to the Minister for Health in relation to a decision made to remove hundreds of births from the maternity service in Portiuncula in Ballinasloe. I looked for a meeting for all Oireachtas Members and all parties, not just myself, with the Minister for Health. We have had mixed messages. We have had the 2018 Walker report on maternity services in Portiuncula. HSE management and the hospital manager told us the report's recommendations were implemented in full. The chief executive of the HSE, however, has said that in no way, shape or form could it be suggested that they were implemented. We need answers. To me, this issue is way above politics. I want us to have an opportunity to sit down with the Minister. She needs to be able to stand over the decision that has been made.”
“It is about so much more than profit, which many farmers do not make to begin with. What we have heard here tonight will not fill them with confidence. Deputy Heydon, as the Minister for agriculture in Ireland, was not in a position to say that he rejects and opposes Mercosur. He has not said that, and I do not think that will fill farmers with faith.”
“There must be a record of every receipt for every bag of meal and medicinal product purchased, every detail on every medicine for every animal, including when it was administered and the quantity, and every detail on batch numbers for feed, along with a record of every single detail that goes into the work farmers have to do day in, day out to ensure they meet standards and their traceability obligations. Every movement of every animal must be accounted for. If you have a cat on your farm, that cat has to have had a tablet. That is the standard Irish farmers and their families are held to when they face audits and inspections. The nub of the issue here is that Irish farmers work extremely hard. They have to in order to do what they do. For a lot of them, it is about a love of the land and the farm. It is about family and generations.”
“What the Minister calls agricultural sensitivities, we see as a real threat to Irish agriculture and Irish farm families the length and breadth of our State. It is a real kick in the teeth to farmers who have to bend over backwards and work so hard to meet regulation after regulation. They have to meet a bar that is set so high, and they meet it, high as it is, yet they then see the real possibility of tens of thousands of tonnes of beef coming into the EU totally unregulated. I grew up on a beef and suckler farm. I have lived on it my entire life. We recently had our Bord Bia inspection and audit. It is important to recognise the amount of work that goes into that.”
“I ask the Minister to consider expanding the building blocks scheme to allow community groups, whether existing or new, to buy derelict vacant buildings in prime locations in towns like Boyle, County Roscommon. A detailed needs analysis has been carried out in the town and people have done their homework in terms of need. There is a high level of need in the area. Would the Minister consider such a proposal?”
“In terms of building capacity, where has the idea of extensions to schools and community centres to create 2,300 places come from? I think of a school in Ballinasloe that has waited almost 30 years for a new build. Schools cannot build and develop what they need to and we are talking about extensions. We need childcare places tomorrow. Extensions to schools, if there is permission from schools in the first instance, involve planning permission and building work. How long will it take to create 2,300 places? I welcome the acquisition of State-led facilities from next year. How many will there be? How much further detail can the Minister provide in that regard? It will be hard to determine which areas will be chosen. Many areas will want such facilities.”
“There are areas in communities that have high demand for childcare and extensions to schools and community centres will not cut it for them.”
“I welcome all of those measures and any measure announced for the early years sector that will make a difference. One of the biggest issues we have in the early years sector right now is capacity. We have serious issues in terms of capacity, whether it is capacity in baby rooms or capacity in childcare places at every level right across the State. As far as I am concerned, when we need 40,000 to 50,000 childcare places, we are in a crisis. I had hoped the building blocks grant would have been expanded. I have raised with the Minister many times the need for that to be expanded to allow new providers as well as existing providers to purchase existing buildings, of which there are many in all of our counties. That would build capacity very quickly. It would be cheaper and more environmentally friendly to use what we have.”
“I want to ask the Minister to outline the measures for the early years sector that were announced in budget 2026, particularly the measure to provide 2,300 places via extensions to schools and community centres. Perhaps she will be able to enlighten us as to where that measure came from and how long she expects planning permission to take for these extensions to take place.”
“Most of them are Garda vetted. They have done first aid training. They are doing what is being asked of them in the bulk of the regulations that are laid out. However, I see no reason when we are almost 14 months on that the Minister is not in a position to say that in the new year, we will carry out the review and get this right. That is what we all want, but childminders are leaving now and that is the problem. There does not seem to be an acknowledgement of that. The Minister is hearing it from this side of the House, and it is concerning that she is not actually hearing it.”
“Respectfully, the problem is that some of those childminders at that point will be gone. If we are waiting for them to register with Tulsa and we then engage with them at that point, is it under 200 of the 13,000 or 14,000 childminders in the State who have registered with Tusla to date? It is happening at a snail’s pace. If that is what we are waiting for, then the review will be almost a waste of time. At a time when we are short about 40,000 or 50,000 childcare places in this State, we have childminders who have given 17, 18 and 19 years of service. They are signing up for regulations, including inspections, that they have no detail or information on in terms of people coming into their homes. They deserve better than that. There is not a childminder in the State that is not willing to comply with the regulations.”
“Unless that emergency cover is in some kind of a contract with the childminder, how would they get 60 days’ notice from somebody? I know a childminder in Roscommon. They have four emergency contacts via the parents of children that they look after and now she needs to go and find another emergency contact who can be available at all times. This is not workable. I would like some further detail on when the review will take place.”
“I urge the Minister to ensure that the review takes place early next year. I was on the radio today. There was someone on with me who has been a childminder for 17 years. She is leaving. She has told the parents of the children that she will not be able to look after them at the end of the school year next June. She is one of many. I do not see any reason that a review of the regulations would be delayed. If we go through the regulations, one example of them being unworkable is the emergency cover. There has to be somebody who can provide emergency cover at all times. Unless the provider has a Johnny or a Mary who will sit at the window and look out and wait for the call, that is not possible. If the childminder needs to change that person or that person decides they are leaving, they have to give Tusla 60 days’ notice.”
“I hope the Minister will hear us about the issues that childminders are bringing to our attention and the need for that review to take place as quickly as possible. The regulations have been in place for just over one year. It is the perfect time for that review now to commence. When does the Minister expect that review to begin? Childminders are telling parents that they are already leaving. We need the review as soon as possible.”
“That is unacceptable and it must be addressed. Forestry was a significant issue across Roscommon and Galway, with trees collapsed on lines and poles. Huge damage was done. Last month, once again, people were left without power for days, and some up to a week, following Storm Amy. The men and women working locally in the ESB and in tree service companies were back in some of the same forestry once again. It is absolutely unacceptable that forestry continues to be such an issue in terms of the ESB and power supply. Where there are issues with access, they must be dealt with quickly. I hope the ESB will also use this investment to look at its vulnerable customers register, which needs work. We must look at what more can be done for people, especially where they are reliant on medical devices to live.”
“This Bill will allow the ESB to access more funding and do more in terms of investment in improving infrastructure. As the majority shareholder in the ESB, there is a real onus on the Government to ensure people feel the benefit of that extra funding and investment. This is especially important for areas like mine across Roscommon and Galway that were hammered by Storm Éowyn earlier this year. Proceeding with projects and more investment is key, of course, but security of supply is absolutely critical. In January, Storm Éowyn left some people without power for more than a fortnight and, in some cases, without heating as well. In my area, people went 17 or 18 days without power. It was a horrendous experience for families. All those people who lost power had to pay their ESB bill like it never happened.”
“These are people who were without electricity on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in some instances. Most of them are back now. To add insult to injury, it is some of the same forestry again. I stood in forestry over the weekend. The ESB lads are in the same forestry that they were in January because it has not been dealt with by the ESB. That is a shame and needs to be sorted out as quickly as possible. It is unacceptable that people across Roscommon, Galway, the wider west and other parts of our State are left without electricity and, in many cases, heating because ESB cannot go in and make sure the corridors are cleared of trees. It needs to be dealt with quickly. I ask the Taoiseach to look at the humanitarian assistance scheme.”
“What was announced yesterday will make a difference, but it should come in a lot earlier than July next year. That is really disappointing. The Taoiseach mentioned storms. We had the pleasure of Storm Amy in the west at the weekend. Some households in my area of west Roscommon, elsewhere in Roscommon and throughout Galway had four or five days without power. The humanitarian assistance scheme is not being opened. I have spoken to the Minister, Deputy Calleary, about that. It is deeply disappointing and a mistake. He is sending people to a community welfare officer whom people cannot meet or get access to in most communities. We have no contact numbers for a lot of them. It is incredible. We are sending people there to look for exceptional needs payments, which most of them will not get because those are means tested.”
“They are leaving, and based on yesterday's performance in the budget, even more will leave now. I want to make reference to the carer's allowance and the earnings disregard. We have to remember every time we talk about abolishing the means test for carer's allowance that there were 14 years when there was no increase in that disregard. Therefore, the Government is playing catch-up in a very big way in that regard. From 2008 to 2021, there was nothing for carers. The national carers' strategy was published in 2012. At the time, the carers sat back and said they knew there were no resources and there was nothing being allocated to this strategy and that they would wait. This is how they have been treated, in that they will have to wait again.”
“I have asked repeatedly for the most perfect system - I credit the Government for it because it got to it eventually - for family carers in terms of the State pension. It is excellent, and family carers have got the State pension they deserve, especially those who were short the 520 credits. The Government should do the same thing for foster carers where they are short and not allow them to get to the age of 66 after giving 30 and 40 years of service to this State looking after children, some of whom have been through the most incredible trauma, without being in a position where they are entitled to a State pension. That needs to be dealt with quickly. I cannot emphasise enough the disappointment for those foster carers, and this at a time when we have more children in or going into State care and fewer foster carers.”
“When we consider what they have done for the State in terms of their service, the idea that they will get no State pension at 66 is absolutely disgraceful.”
“We have smaller providers that are really struggling, and it is parents who pay the price over and over again. I hosted foster carers and the Irish Foster Care Association in Leinster House last week. It would be remiss of me not to raise this. It is difficult to emphasise the level of disappointment among foster carers. They got an increase for the first time in 15 years in the foster care allowance and they fear they will wait another 15 for the next. Foster carers are looking after the most vulnerable children in this State and they are doing so on behalf of the State. I met foster carers last week that had given 30 and 40 years. Some of them had taken in over 100 children in their time. When they get to the age of 66, though, they have no State pension.”
“We saw an article last week in The Journal showing some providers that had pulled out of it. Their profits are in the millions of euro. That commitment in the programme for Government to review core funding should be done. The Minister said that year 1 was being evaluated. That is way out of date now; we are into year four. This is taxpayers' money and we need a full review of the core funding - where it is going, who it is being spent on and what it is been spent on - and that should be done immediately. It is incredible that it is not being done. At the same time, we have providers like those that are dealing with amounts in the millions of euro leaving core funding, and parents paying an additional €300 and €400 in their childcare bills.”
“Alarm bells should be going off because if we do not have the educators, then we can forget about reducing costs for parents and building capacity. We will have no childcare sector. The idea of throwing this to the JLC once again to see what some of the big providers in the State will agree to in terms of pay for these professionals, whom we absolutely need to retain in the sector, without having anything ring-fenced is really disappointing and will lead to more educators leaving, more rooms being closed and more people on waiting lists for childcare. Based on what was announced yesterday, the situation is going to go from bad to worse. There are commitments in the programme for Government to review core funding. Millions and millions and of euro are going into core funding.”
“We have no ring-fenced funding for our early years educators and school-age practitioners at a time when the staff turnover rate in some counties is upwards of 50%. We have 50% of early years educators in some counties leaving the sector, yet we have no ring-fenced funding for an additional pay increase next year. They are still waiting on the pay increase that was announced in June. We are almost four months on now. That was only signed last week, and I welcomed it, but that should have and could have been in place on 1 September. The joint labour committee, JLC, that is used to set wages is not working. Bar this pay increase, which is half decent, the last one was 65 cent. It took 14 months to negotiate, and this is at a time when people are leaving the sector in their droves.”
“There is nothing announced in the budget that will drastically or in any modest way reduce childcare fees for parents. Some are paying €1,000-plus per month for childcare. Despite all of the talk in relation to childcare and childcare costs, there is absolutely nothing that will make a difference for parents. I spoke to my brother the other day. He talked about a lady at work who was three months overdue to come back to work. She cannot go back. Her poor mother, who is battling cancer, would have taken the child but is not in a position to do so. There is no childcare place. She has been out of work for three months on top of her maternity leave. That is just one case that shows the real impact this is having on families and parents, primarily women, and also on our economy.”