I must now deal with a postponed division relating to the motion regarding childcare. On Wednesday, 7 May, on the question, "That the amendment to the motion be agreed to", a division was claimed and in accordance with Standing Order 85(2), that division must be taken now.
Childcare: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]
The following motion was moved by Deputy Claire Kerrane on Wednesday, 7 May 2025:
That Dáil Éireann:
recognises:
— the challenges that exist in the Early Years Sector, including for parents trying to afford and access childcare places and for educators when it comes to pay and terms and conditions;
— the thousands of children on waiting lists for childcare places;
— the serious deficiencies in capacity in our Childcare Sector;
— the high costs of childcare that continues to exist with some parents paying over €1,000 a month; and
— the Early Years Educators who are underpaid and undervalued by successive Governments;
commends, the forty-three organisations who have come together to form the Together for Public, an alliance for a Public System of Early Childhood Education and Care, including children's rights groups, academics, trade unions, anti-poverty groups, equality and human rights groups, led by the National Women's Council of Ireland;
acknowledges:
— the Programme for Government commitment for the first time to public provision and to capital investment to build or purchase State-owned childcare facilities; and
— the inclusion in the Programme for Government to commit to "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";
calls on Government to:
— publish the terms of reference for the consultation and detail how the consultation will take place with a timeframe;
— engage with Together for Public, on the terms of reference for the consultation before commencing; and
— detail a timeframe for the action plan.
Debate resumed on amendment No. 2:
To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:
"welcomes the significant prioritisation by the Government of measures designed to:
— reduce out of pocket costs of early learning and childcare for families;
— better align the supply of State-subsidised early learning and childcare with demand; and
— increase the pay and improve the working conditions of early years educators and school-age childcare practitioners, as well as develop career pathways and promote careers in the sector, in line with Nurturing Skills, the Workforce Plan (2021-2028);
acknowledges the unprecedented growth in State funding in the sector, which has increased by 142 per cent since 2020 to stand at €1.37 billion this year;
acknowledges and welcomes the major achievements of the funding model that provide a solid foundation from which this Government can build, in particular:
— the National Childcare Scheme (NCS), which is providing subsidies - universal, income-assessed and sponsored - to record numbers of children this year, with an allocation of €530 million in 2025;
— the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme, which enjoys uptake rates in excess of 96 per cent and has removed barriers to accessing pre-school education, with data from a recent review showing that more than 40 per cent of families would not have been able to send their child to pre-school without this programme;
— the award-winning Access and Inclusion Model (AIM), that is supporting more than 9,000 children with a disability to access the ECCE programme this year, with AIM now expanded beyond the ECCE programme, where ECCE children are now benefitting from AIM support outside the ECCE programme hours, both in term and out;
— Equal Start, the funding model and set of universal and targeted measures to support access to, and participation in, early learning and childcare for children and their families who experience disadvantage, with 770 services designated as priority settings in receipt of targeted supports this year;
— Core Funding, with an allocation of €331 million in the third programme year towards operating costs (pay and non-pay) of providers to support;
— the introduction of a new fee management system, which in years 1 and 2 meant no increase in fees since September 2021 and in year 3 means the continuation of the fee freeze for a majority of providers, as well as a fee increase assessment process and a maximum fee cap;
— the introduction of targeted measures for small services, including a flat rate of €5,000 for services registered on the Tusla Early Years Register as sessional only and a minimum Base Rate allocation of €14,000 for centre-based services; and
— the introduction of two Employment Regulation Orders for the Early Years Services Sector, which came into effect in September 2022 and June 2024 providing minimum hourly rates of pay for early years educators and school-age childcare practitioners, increasing the wages of an estimated 73 per cent and 53 per cent of those working in the sector;
acknowledges that the allocation for the fourth year of this scheme, which will exceed €390 million, contingent on updated Employment Regulation Orders, will bring further investment into the sector;
acknowledges and welcomes the major progress in implementation of the National Action Plan for Childminding (2021-2028), with the commencement of the Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) (Childminding Services) Regulations 2024 and relevant sections of the Child Care (Amendment) Act 2024 making it possible for childminders to start applying to Tusla to go through the registration process and once registered by Tusla to apply to take part in the NCS;
further acknowledges and welcomes the latest data from a range of sources that shows capacity in the early learning and childcare sector is increasing in terms of the number of places and hours of provision that services are offering, the number of places opening, the number of staff in the early learning and childcare workforce and the number of parents supported through the various schemes and the numbers of children benefitting, with:
— data from the Early Years Sector Profile Survey showing that, between 2021/22 and 2023/24, the estimated number of enrolments in services rose by 19 per cent from 197,185 to 234,597;
— core funding application data showing that between Year 1 (from September 2022-August 2023) and Year 3 (from September 2023-August 2024) of the scheme, annual place hours increased by 15 per cent;
— data from Tusla on service closures and new service registrations showing a net increase of 226 in the overall number of services in 2024 and a six-year low in the number of service closures;
— data from the Early Years Sector Profile Survey showing that, between 2021/22 and 2022/23, the estimated number of staff in the early learning and childcare workforce rose by 8 per cent from 34,357 to 37,060; and
— data from the NCS showing that since May 2022, there has been a 136 per cent increase in the number of providers offering the Scheme and a 330 per cent increase in the numbers of children benefitting from the Scheme;
also acknowledges that there continues to be evidence of some families having difficulty finding appropriate places at a cost that is affordable and that despite progress in recent years owing to intervention by the State, the sector remains a low-paid one; and
welcomes:
— the commitment by Government to a reduction in fees paid by parents to €200 per month over its lifetime;
— the ringfenced allocation of €45 million to increase the pay of early years educators and school-age childcare practitioners this year through updated Employment Regulation Orders, with a commitment by Government for further progress in this area;
— the transformation of the Supply Management Unit into a Forward Planning and Delivery Unit, with important work underway in that Unit to develop a forward planning model and explore options to introduce public provision to operate alongside private and community providers where there are shortfalls in capacity;
— the commitment to develop an Action Plan to 'build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early education and care system with State-led facilities adding capacity', with the scope of the Action Plan, the design of a comprehensive stakeholder consultation process to underpin it and the principles that should guide the delivery of this work well advanced; and
— while noting that further developments and investment are required, Dáil Éireann recognises that there are many positive and progressive elements to the current early learning and childcare sector and acknowledges the pathway for improving access, affordability and quality is set out in the new Programme for Government.".
- (Minister for Children, Disability and Equality)
Amendment put:
The Dáil divided: Tá, 83; Níl, 65; Staon, 0.
Tá
- Aird, William.
- Ardagh, Catherine.
- Boland, Grace.
- Brabazon, Tom.
- Brennan, Brian.
- Brennan, Shay.
- Brophy, Colm.
- Browne, James.
- Burke, Colm.
- Butler, Mary.
- Butterly, Paula.
- Buttimer, Jerry.
- Byrne, Malcolm.
- Byrne, Thomas.
- Cahill, Michael.
- Callaghan, Catherine.
- Calleary, Dara.
- Canney, Seán.
- Carrigy, Micheál.
- Chambers, Jack.
- Cleere, Peter 'Chap'.
- Clendennen, John.
- Collins, Niall.
- Connolly, John.
- Cooney, Joe.
- Crowe, Cathal.
- Cummins, John.
- Currie, Emer.
- Daly, Martin.
- Dempsey, Aisling.
- Devlin, Cormac.
- Dillon, Alan.
- Dolan, Albert.
- Dooley, Timmy.
- Feighan, Frankie.
- Fleming, Seán.
- Gallagher, Pat the Cope.
- Geoghegan, James.
- Grealish, Noel.
- Harkin, Marian.
- Healy-Rae, Michael.
- Heneghan, Barry.
- Heydon, Martin.
- Higgins, Emer.
- Keogh, Keira.
- Lahart, John.
- Lawless, James.
- Martin, Micheál.
- Maxwell, David.
- McAuliffe, Paul.
- McCarthy, Noel.
- McConalogue, Charlie.
- McCormack, Tony.
- McEntee, Helen.
- McGrath, Séamus.
- McGreehan, Erin.
- Moran, Kevin Boxer.
- Moynihan, Aindrias.
- Moynihan, Michael.
- Moynihan, Shane.
- Murnane O'Connor, Jennifer.
- Murphy, Michael.
- Naughton, Hildegarde.
- Neville, Joe.
- O'Brien, Darragh.
- O'Callaghan, Jim.
- O'Connell, Maeve.
- O'Connor, James.
- O'Dea, Willie.
- O'Donnell, Kieran.
- O'Meara, Ryan.
- O'Shea, John Paul.
- O'Sullivan, Pádraig.
- Ó Cearúil, Naoise.
- Ó Muirí, Naoise.
- Roche, Peter.
- Scanlon, Eamon.
- Smith, Brendan.
- Smyth, Niamh.
- Timmins, Edward.
- Toole, Gillian.
- Troy, Robert.
- Ward, Barry.
Níl
- Ahern, Ciarán.
- Bacik, Ivana.
- Bennett, Cathy.
- Brady, John.
- Buckley, Pat.
- Byrne, Joanna.
- Collins, Michael.
- Connolly, Catherine.
- Conway-Walsh, Rose.
- Coppinger, Ruth.
- Cronin, Réada.
- Crowe, Seán.
- Cullinane, David.
- Cummins, Jen.
- Daly, Pa.
- Devine, Máire.
- Doherty, Pearse.
- Donnelly, Paul.
- Ellis, Dessie.
- Farrell, Mairéad.
- Gibney, Sinéad.
- Gogarty, Paul Nicholas.
- Gould, Thomas.
- Graves, Ann.
- Guirke, Johnny.
- Hayes, Eoin.
- Healy, Seamus.
- Hearne, Rory.
- Kelly, Alan.
- Kenny, Eoghan.
- Kenny, Martin.
- Kerrane, Claire.
- Lawless, Paul.
- Lawlor, George.
- Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
- McGettigan, Donna.
- McGuinness, Conor D.
- Mitchell, Denise.
- Murphy, Paul.
- Mythen, Johnny.
- Nash, Ged.
- Newsome Drennan, Natasha.
- Ní Raghallaigh, Shónagh.
- Nolan, Carol.
- O'Callaghan, Cian.
- O'Donoghue, Richard.
- O'Donoghue, Robert.
- O'Flynn, Ken.
- O'Hara, Louis.
- O'Rourke, Darren.
- Ó Broin, Eoin.
- Ó Murchú, Ruairí.
- Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
- Ó Súilleabháin, Fionntán.
- Quaide, Liam.
- Quinlivan, Maurice.
- Rice, Pádraig.
- Sheehan, Conor.
- Sherlock, Marie.
- Smith, Duncan.
- Stanley, Brian.
- Tóibín, Peadar.
- Wall, Mark.
- Ward, Mark.
- Whitmore, Jennifer.
Staon
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Mary Butler and Emer Currie; Níl, Deputies Pádraig Mac Lochlainn and Denise Mitchell.
Amendment declared carried.
Amendment No. 1 in the name of the Social Democrats cannot be moved.
Amendment No. 1 not moved.
Question put: "That the motion, as amended, be agreed to."
The Dáil divided: Tá, 83; Níl, 66; Staon, 0.
Tá
- Aird, William.
- Ardagh, Catherine.
- Boland, Grace.
- Brabazon, Tom.
- Brennan, Brian.
- Brennan, Shay.
- Brophy, Colm.
- Browne, James.
- Burke, Colm.
- Butler, Mary.
- Butterly, Paula.
- Buttimer, Jerry.
- Byrne, Malcolm.
- Byrne, Thomas.
- Cahill, Michael.
- Callaghan, Catherine.
- Calleary, Dara.
- Canney, Seán.
- Carrigy, Micheál.
- Chambers, Jack.
- Cleere, Peter 'Chap'.
- Clendennen, John.
- Collins, Niall.
- Connolly, John.
- Cooney, Joe.
- Crowe, Cathal.
- Cummins, John.
- Currie, Emer.
- Daly, Martin.
- Dempsey, Aisling.
- Devlin, Cormac.
- Dillon, Alan.
- Dolan, Albert.
- Dooley, Timmy.
- Feighan, Frankie.
- Fleming, Seán.
- Gallagher, Pat the Cope.
- Geoghegan, James.
- Grealish, Noel.
- Harkin, Marian.
- Healy-Rae, Michael.
- Heneghan, Barry.
- Heydon, Martin.
- Higgins, Emer.
- Keogh, Keira.
- Lahart, John.
- Lawless, James.
- Martin, Micheál.
- Maxwell, David.
- McAuliffe, Paul.
- McCarthy, Noel.
- McConalogue, Charlie.
- McCormack, Tony.
- McEntee, Helen.
- McGrath, Séamus.
- McGreehan, Erin.
- Moran, Kevin Boxer.
- Moynihan, Aindrias.
- Moynihan, Michael.
- Moynihan, Shane.
- Murnane O'Connor, Jennifer.
- Murphy, Michael.
- Naughton, Hildegarde.
- Neville, Joe.
- O'Brien, Darragh.
- O'Callaghan, Jim.
- O'Connell, Maeve.
- O'Connor, James.
- O'Dea, Willie.
- O'Donnell, Kieran.
- O'Meara, Ryan.
- O'Shea, John Paul.
- O'Sullivan, Pádraig.
- Ó Cearúil, Naoise.
- Ó Muirí, Naoise.
- Roche, Peter.
- Scanlon, Eamon.
- Smith, Brendan.
- Smyth, Niamh.
- Timmins, Edward.
- Toole, Gillian.
- Troy, Robert.
- Ward, Barry.
Níl
- Ahern, Ciarán.
- Bacik, Ivana.
- Bennett, Cathy.
- Brady, John.
- Buckley, Pat.
- Byrne, Joanna.
- Collins, Michael.
- Connolly, Catherine.
- Conway-Walsh, Rose.
- Coppinger, Ruth.
- Cronin, Réada.
- Crowe, Seán.
- Cullinane, David.
- Cummins, Jen.
- Daly, Pa.
- Devine, Máire.
- Doherty, Pearse.
- Donnelly, Paul.
- Ellis, Dessie.
- Farrell, Mairéad.
- Gibney, Sinéad.
- Gogarty, Paul Nicholas.
- Gould, Thomas.
- Graves, Ann.
- Guirke, Johnny.
- Hayes, Eoin.
- Healy, Seamus.
- Hearne, Rory.
- Kelly, Alan.
- Kenny, Eoghan.
- Kenny, Martin.
- Kerrane, Claire.
- Lawless, Paul.
- Lawlor, George.
- Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
- McGettigan, Donna.
- McGuinness, Conor D.
- Mitchell, Denise.
- Murphy, Paul.
- Mythen, Johnny.
- Nash, Ged.
- Newsome Drennan, Natasha.
- Ní Raghallaigh, Shónagh.
- Nolan, Carol.
- O'Callaghan, Cian.
- O'Donoghue, Richard.
- O'Donoghue, Robert.
- O'Flynn, Ken.
- O'Gorman, Roderic.
- O'Hara, Louis.
- O'Rourke, Darren.
- Ó Broin, Eoin.
- Ó Murchú, Ruairí.
- Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
- Ó Súilleabháin, Fionntán.
- Quaide, Liam.
- Quinlivan, Maurice.
- Rice, Pádraig.
- Sheehan, Conor.
- Sherlock, Marie.
- Smith, Duncan.
- Stanley, Brian.
- Tóibín, Peadar.
- Wall, Mark.
- Ward, Mark.
- Whitmore, Jennifer.
Staon
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Mary Butler and Emer Currie; Níl, Deputies Pádraig Mac Lochlainn and Denise Mitchell.
Question declared carried.