Written Answers Nos. 653-667
653. Deputy Pat Buckley asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if additional funding will be made available in 2025 for family resource centres to cover their programme costs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5955/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraI can inform the Deputy that a funding equalisation scheme was established in 2024 for the FRC Programme, which will ensure that all Programme members receive a minimum core funding of at least €160,000 from 2025 onwards. Core funding supports the pivotal role FRCs play in so many communities across the country, where they provide a comprehensive range of services tailored to individual community needs. In addition to core funding, FRCs may draw on various sources of funding provided by other Government Departments, agencies and private sources.
The Deputy may be aware that an additional €800,000 was secured in Budget 2025 for the FRC Programme. This additional allocation will allow for expansion of the FRC Programme membership in 2025, by providing core funding to new Programme members. The commissioning of new FRCs is an operational matter for Tusla, which is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the FRC Programme.
I understand that Tusla is currently working on the application process and criteria, with a view to seeking applications in the coming weeks from organisations wishing to be considered for the expansion of the FRC programme.
654. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of children aged under 16 years on the disability data in CHO7. [5959/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
655. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if it is intended to extend the accommodation recognition payment for hosting refugees from Ukraine beyond 31 March 2025; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6016/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Accommodation Recognition Payment (ARP) was introduced to recognise the generosity of people who have opened their homes to provide accommodation to Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BOTPs) who arrived in Ireland after fleeing the war in Ukraine.
The ARP scheme is provided in Part 2 of the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022 and is administered by the Department of Social Protection on my behalf. In line with extensions of the EU Temporary Protection Directive (TPD), the ARP scheme was initially extended to 31 March 2024 and then to 31 March 2025.
As the TPD is now extended to March 2026, consideration is being given to the extension of the ARP scheme. Resolutions must be passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas before this Order is made. A decision will be reached in respect of the ARP shortly.
656. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth how many beneficiaries of temporary protection are in accommodation supported by the accommodation recognition payment, in tabular form through the Irish Red Cross Pledge Campaign, the offer-a-home scheme operated by local authorities, or by private arrangements; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6017/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs of 10 February 2025, there were almost 19,500 active claims in payment in respect of hosting over 36,000 Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BOTPs) from Ukraine.
Applicants for the Accommodation Recognition Payment are not required to register with the Irish Red Cross Pledge Campaign or the Offer a Home scheme operated by local authorities. The information that the Deputy has requested is not available as it is not captured as part of the application process as prescribed by the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022.
657. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if she has considered how the decision of the British government to cut funding for its Homes for Ukraine scheme and other schemes aimed at Ukrainians in Britain will impact on correspondence schemes in Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6018/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Accommodation Recognition Payment (ARP) was introduced to recognise the generosity of people who have opened their homes to provide accommodation to Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BOTPs) who arrived in Ireland after fleeing the war in Ukraine.
The ARP scheme is provided in Part 2 of the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022 and is administered by the Department of Social Protection on my behalf. In line with extensions of the EU Temporary Protection Directive (TPD), the ARP scheme was initially extended to 31 March 2024 and then to 31 March 2025.
While my Department monitors international policies and best practices, all policy decisions are primarily driven by factors relevant to the Irish context. The UK schemes to which the Deputy refers have not been considerations in the policy relating to the ARP scheme.
The future of the scheme will be considered in the context of the continued whole of Government response to the war in Ukraine. A decision will be reached in respect of the ARP shortly.
658. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the funding her Department has applied for and received through the asylum, migration and integration fund; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6029/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Asylum, Migration, and Integration Fund (AMIF) is a funding programme implemented through the EU’s 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework.
Each Member State wishing to participate in the AMIF must produce a National Programme covering the Specific Objectives of the Fund in such areas as asylum, reception, integration, legal migration, and the return of irregular migrants.
The four Specific Objectives are:
(1) strengthening and developing all aspects of the Common European Asylum System, including its external dimension;
(2) strengthening and developing legal migration to the Member States in accordance with their economic and social needs, and promoting and contributing to the effective integration and social inclusion of third-country nationals;
(3) contributing to countering irregular migration, enhancing effective, safe and dignified return and readmission, and promoting and contributing to effective initial reintegration in third countries;
(4) enhancing solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility between the Member States, in particular as regards those most affected by migration and asylum challenges, including through practical cooperation.
Under AMIF 2021-2027, Ireland is building on the work supported by the previous AMIF 2014-2020 national programme and improving its effectiveness where possible.
Ireland’s allocation under AMIF 2014-2020 was €55.5 million.
Ireland’s total AMIF allocation for 2021-2027 is now €63.5 million, of which €53.1 million represents EU funding and €10.4 million represents national and beneficiary co-financing.
I trust this information is helpful.
659. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth her plans to support the early childhood sector making childcare an attractive and sustainable career option; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6056/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe role of the early years educator and school-age childcare practitioner are valuable ones and they play an important part in supporting children's development, learning and care.
Nurturing Skills: The Workforce Plan for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare, 2022-2028, which was launched in December 2021, aims to strengthen the ongoing process of professionalisation for those working in early learning and care and school-age childcare. It contains a range of commitments to raise the profile of careers in the sector and to support recruitment, retention and diversity in the workforce.
Early years educators, school-age childcare practitioners and childminders play a key role in supporting children’s development and well-being, working in partnership with families. Recognising their central importance for the quality of provision, Nurturing Skills aims to support the professional development of the workforce and raise the profile of careers in the sector. Commitments in Nurturing Skills are organised under five pillars:1. Establishing a career framework;2. Raising qualification levels;3. Developing a national Continuing Professional Development system;4. Supporting recruitment, retention and diversity; and5. Moving towards regulation of the workforce.
Successful delivery of commitments under the five pillars will be supported by three "key enablers" that are identified in Nurturing Skills:
* Improvement in pay and conditions of employment;
* Coordination of the quality support infrastructure; and
* Ongoing engagement with the profession.
While Government does not set rates of pay, it has made funding available, through Core Funding, to do so as negotiated by employer and employee representatives in a Joint Labour Committee (JLC) process. Within this process, over the past two years two rounds of Employment Regulation Orders (EROs) have been signed into law to progressively increase wage rates for various grades in the sector with the support of additional Core Funding investment. For the 2025/26 programme year, €45 million has been specifically ringfenced to support employers with additional wage costs conditional on new EROs being agreed by the JLC.
Complementing wider Departmental policies to improve pay and working conditions, to support recruitment and retention, and to streamline administration and regulation, Equal Start was launched in early 2024. Equal Start includes a commitment to roll out well-being supports for educators and practitioners and supports for early learning and care and school-age childcare settings to enable more supportive working environments to be created for staff.
660. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to report on emergency accommodation for IPAS applicants at Kilbride Army Camp, County Wicklow, in light of residents reporting overcrowding, a lack of hot water and very poor sanitary conditions; if she can report on who is responsible for the provision of services at the site; the oversight her Department has of the site; if she will commit to having the site inspected and deficiencies in basic needs remedied in the short-term; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6124/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThank you for your question, Deputy.
The International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) is always available to deal with any complaints from residents and residents are encouraged to engage with IPAS if they are unhappy with any aspect of their accommodation.
The IPAS Centre Management Team has been actively engaging with the management of Kilbride Army Camp and the Defence Forces in relation to the issues raised at resident clinics, as well as the overall level of service and accommodation being provided to our residents in Kilbride.
IPAS can confirm that all maintenance issues reported to management of Kilbride Army Camp are dealt with as quickly as possible, and that the site is cleaned multiple times a day by professional cleaning staff via a rota system.
IPAS can confirm that Kilbride Army Camp has capacity for 124 residents and that the site is within this capacity limit.
The IPAS Customer Services Team conducts regular resident clinics at the centre, the most recent clinic was held onsite on the 6th of February 2025.
Where a complaint is significant in nature or a resident is not comfortable raising a complaint with a centre manager, they may make the complaint directly, or through a representative authorised to act on their behalf, to the IPAS Customer Service Team.
In the event of a resident not feeling comfortable with contacting the Department directly or the centre management, the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) operate a confidential support Freephone helpline 1800 929 00 or email: info@jrs.ie
All International Protection Applicants have access to the services of the Ombudsman and Office of the Ombudsman for Children, should they consider that their complaint has not been managed appropriately.
IPAS will continue to follow up on the needs of residents and work with centre management to ensure oversight of services provided at the site.
I trust the above is helpful.
661. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if she can advise in relation to correspondence (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6126/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraI thank the Deputy for raising this query with my Department.
The introduction of Core Funding in 2022 brought a significant increase in investment for the sector, with €259 million of funding paid directly to services in year 1 of the scheme, of which €210.8 million was entirely new funding. This funding, which increased by 11% (to €287 million) in year 2, was increased again by another 15% in year 3 (to €331 million).
Fee management was introduced with the substantial investment of Core Funding following the recommendations of the Expert Group, in the Partnership for Public Good report. The first step of this process, which was approved by Government, was to limit increases in fee rates.
As part of the progressive development of the fee management system under Core Funding, the Department introduced new developments to fee management in year 3 of Core Funding.
The Fee Increase Assessment process and the introduction of a fee cap are the first steps to further advance this system of fee management in line with the recommendations outlined in Partnership for Public Good.
Up to now, services availing of Core Funding have not been allowed to raise their fees above what was charged to parents on 30 September 2021 (or at the point of first signing up for Core Funding if the service did not exist on 30 September 2021).
The fee freeze will remain in place for the majority of these services for year 3 of Core Funding, however, services whose fees have been frozen at a level that may not be sufficient to sustain their business even with increased funding available through Core Funding, had the opportunity to apply for a Fee Increase Assessment. This process closed for applications 29 November 2024.
Only services charging low fees (fees below the average in their county) were eligible to apply. The onus was on the provider to demonstrate a need for a fee increase.
The Fee Increase Assessment process must balance the need of parents for stability with their early learning and childcare costs and the need for providers to operate viable businesses in order to continue providing this Public Good service for their community. As such, my Department has placed limits on the scale of any approved increase to ensure services can continue to operate with protections in place for parents/guardians.
Any approved fee increases will not go above the increased universal NCS subsidy that a parent would be receiving for the full hours offered within the fee. This means that parents receiving the universal NCS subsidy for the full hours offered in these services will not face higher costs compared to this time last year.
Once the service was deemed eligible to enter into the application stage of the process, my Department issued a letter of notice of potential fee increase to services for issue to parents/guardians.
My Department will issue a letter to Partner Services who have been approved for a fee increase. This letter will include the new maximum fee which can be charged by the service, and the date it can be implemented from. The service must show this letter to parents/guardians before any fee increase takes place. A Partner Service will have to update the Partner Service Parent Statement. This must be circulated to parents within 10 working days of the sanctioned detailed fee increases being provided to parents.
Parents/guardians and their children can only avail of the benefits and protections that Core Funding creates, such as the effective fee freeze at 2021 levels, if their service has chosen to participate in the scheme as a Partner Service. Some Providers may choose to no longer participate in Core Funding and therefore, as private businesses, they are free to set their own fees. If such a service did choose to increase fees, this would not be in the controlled manner that the Fee Increase Assessment process under Core Funding creates.
If any parent /guardian has any concerns or questions about their fees or in the event that an individual wishes to raise a concern regarding a potential breach in fee conditions, the first step is to reach out to their local City and County Childcare Committee for support and guidance. Contact details for local City and County Childcare Committees can be found at gov.ie - City and County Childcare Committees .
662. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the measures being taken to address the shortage in childcare places (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6130/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraIncreasing access to affordable early learning and childcare is a key priority of government.
Last year, a Supply Management Unit within the Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare Division was established, and the Programme for Government articulates an intention that the unit be resourced and transformed into a Forward Planning and Delivery Unit to identify areas of need, forecast demand, and deliver public supply within the childcare sector where required.
A key part of the Supply Management Unit’s remit is to develop capacity for monitoring, analysing, and forecasting of the supply and demand for early learning and childcare. The development of a forward planning model is currently underway utilising the expertise of statisticians on secondment from the Central Statistics Office, an early learning and childcare expert from a County Childcare Committee and a GIS mapper working with the Department. The model will seek to identify the nature and volume of different types of early learning and childcare places across the country and how that aligns with the numbers of children in the corresponding age cohorts at local area level. This model will assist my Department in identifying where unmet need/demand and areas of low supply exist.
This forward planning model will be a central element of my Department's plans to achieve the policy goals set out in the Programme for Government to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early childhood education and care system, with State-led facilities adding capacity. This will enhance parental choice through support for public, private and community provision as well as childminders.
One way in which Government is supporting the expansion of capacity is through capital funding. The Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme was launched on the 4th of November 2024. Applications for this scheme have now closed and an appraisal process has begun. The primary focus of the Extension Grant Scheme is to increase capacity in the 1–3-year-old, pre-ECCE, age range for full day care.
Appraisal of applications for this scheme will consider the supply and demand in the area around the proposed projects and seeks to prioritise funding for areas with the biggest supply/demand mismatch. €25m will be made available this year to deliver additional capacity under the Scheme and I expect to announce the outcome of the application process in March.
My Department also funds 30 City/County Childcare Committees (CCCs) which provide support to families and early learning and childcare providers. The network of 30 City/County Childcare Committees across the country are in a position to assist in identifying vacant places in services for children and families who need them and engage proactively with services to explore possibilities for expansion among services, particularly where there is unmet need.
Parents experiencing difficulty in relation to their early learning and childcare needs should contact their local City/County Childcare Committee (CCC) for assistance. Contact details for County Kerry CCC may be found at www.kerrycountychildcare.com
663. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to provide clarity on the length of time people are waiting for autism assessment in primary care, and with specific regard to a person (details supplied) waiting for assessment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6140/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThis is a matter for my cabinet colleague, the Minister for Health.
664. Deputy Michael Collins asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if an IPAS application has been submitted for a location (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6169/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraI thank the Deputy for this question. A response will be provided directly to the Deputy in the coming days.
665. Deputy Naoise Ó Muirí asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the timeline for the reduction of childcare costs to €200 per month, in line with the programme for Government; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6194/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraInvestment in early learning and childcare is now at unprecedented levels with public funding exceeding €1.37 billion in 2025, clearly demonstrating Government commitment to this area.
As well as addressing affordability this investment has served to improve accessibility, availability and the quality of provision.
The ECCE programme, which provides two years of pre-school without charge, enjoys participation rates of 96% each year. Over 70% of families on low income report that they would not be able to send their child to pre-school without this programme.The National Childcare Scheme (NCS) complements the ECCE programme, providing subsidies – both universal and targeted - to reduce the costs to parents for children to participate in ELC and SAC.The minimum NCS subsidy has steadily risen from €0.50 in 2022 to €2.14 in September 2024 alongside extensions to eligibility.
The fee management system introduced through the Core Funding Scheme has ensured that the investment in NCS has resulted in real change for parents with the cumulative reduction in out of pocket over this period estimated to be 50% on average.
Record numbers of children and their families are now benefiting from the NCS. Almost 220,000 unique children benefited from an NCS subsidy in 2024.
The Government of Ireland is committed to continuing to improve affordability and reach the €200 per month cap within the lifetime of the Government. However, further progress on affordability cannot be made in isolation and must be integrated with our efforts to improve access, availability and quality.
666. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to provide details of the empty buildings, by county, in her Department’s portfolio; the value of the property; the length of time they have lain empty; and the physical status of each building, in tabular form. [6225/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraI can advise that this Department does not have any empty buildings under its portfolio.
667. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to provide details of undeveloped sites, by county, in her Department’s portfolio; the value of the property; the length of time they have lain undeveloped; and the reason for the lack of development, in tabular form. [6243/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraI can advise that this Department does not have any undeveloped sites within its portfolio.
