Joint Committee on Children, Disability, Equality, Integration and Youth to resume consideration of the National Action Plan for Childminding 2021-2028

The meeting at 3.30pm will be broadcast from Committee Room 2 of Leinster House and will hear from:

·       Officials from the Department of Children, Disability, Equality, Integration and Youth, Dr Anne-Marie Brooks, Assistant Secretary General and Toby Wolfe, Principal Officer; and

·       Representatives of TUSLA, Bernard Gloster, CEO, Caroline Cullen, Interim Director of Quality Assurance, and Fiona McDonnell, National Service Director, Children’s Services Regulation.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Committee Cathaoirleach Deputy Kathleen Funchion said: “This meeting follows on from our initial engagement on the National Action Plan for Childminding 2021-28, which was published in April by the Minister for Children. We have previously heard from stakeholders in the childminding sector on the plan, which sets out steps towards regulation, support and subsidies, for all paid, non-relative, childminders that will be developed over the next eight years. We now look forward to hearing the views of the Department and TUSLA on this national action plan designed to help families by supporting childminders to provide high quality early learning and care and school age childcare.”

The Joint Committee on Children, Disability, Equality, Integration and Youth has 14 Members, nine from the Dáil and five from the Seanad.

The meeting in Committee Room 2 can be viewed live on Oireachtas.ie.

Committee proceedings can also be viewed on the Houses of the Oireachtas Smartphone App, available for Apple and Android devices.