It\u2019s imperative that Minister for Children Norma Foley presents her department\u2019s rough plan for the rollout of public, not-for-profit childcare to the Oireachtas Childrens Committee for scrutiny and input from the sector\u2019s experts, according to Social Democrats children spokesperson Aidan Farrelly.<\/p>\n
Deputy Farrelly said:<\/p>\n
\u201cI commend the Minister for this potentially monumental policy shift towards the provision of public childcare, but this plan cannot be drip-fed to families and the wider sector.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government must take an evidence-informed approach towards this transition and keep stakeholders in the loop – without listening to those who will be affected, any plan is doomed to fail.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Minister must clarify which stage of development this plan has reached: how many buildings have been identified for purchase? Have buildings been identified in all areas of need? What is the timeline for purchase and refurbishment of these properties?<\/p>\n
\u201cIn areas where there are no suitable buildings to purchase, have viable sites been identified for development? If they have been, what is the timeline and cost of construction identified by the Department?<\/p>\n
\u201cThese questions need answers so that families who use childcare services and members of the sector can contribute valuable insights to the development of this plan – right now, we are in the dark.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout the details, we have no way of evaluating the State\u2019s level of ambition, which to this point has been dismal – sectoral experts must be involved at each step to shape this policy going forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m calling on Minister Foley to present this plan to the Oireachtas Children\u2019s Committee for discussion so that we may evaluate where we\u2019re at and what needs to be done.\u201d<\/p>\n
January 20th, 2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s imperative that Minister for Children Norma Foley presents her department\u2019s rough plan for the rollout of public, not-for-profit childcare to the Oireachtas Childrens Committee for scrutiny and input from the sector\u2019s experts, according to Social Democrats children spokesperson Aidan Farrelly. Deputy Farrelly said: \u201cI commend the Minister for this potentially monumental policy shift towards […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11557,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[396,296,540,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aidan-farrelly","category-childcare","category-children","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n