Budget 2027
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-29
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Simon Harris (FG), Wicklow

I fully agree with the Deputy. I know she sees it in Balbriggan and Skerries and across her constituency in Fingal. It is the Minister for children's intention to produce that road map. A lot of work is going into it because as the Deputy rightly says, there are lots of moving parts here. We have to address affordability, accessibility and how we support the workforce. We have made some good progress on that. We have also made decisions over the course of the past year to invest public money for the first time in capital projects in terms of the development of childcare facilities as well. This is a key issue. We also have to recognise that it is up to a parent as well so it is about providing parental choice and recognising that some parents will perhaps want a childminder in their home and the likes. There is stuff we can consider doing on the tax side in relation to supporting childminders too so we are looking at this in the round as a Government. We see it as a key core priority and a key part of Ireland's economic and social infrastructure. We also recognise that for many families, it is a second mortgage. It is a really big bill. We have made good progress on it over a number of years as a Government. I am proud of what we have done with ECCE as well but building on this will be one of the planks of the budget and not just the budget. It will be one of the planks of our work over the next four years.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-29/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-10-05T01:00:59+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-29