Early Childhood Care and Education
Dail Éireann — 2026-10-01
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Barry Heneghan (IND), Dublin Bay North

This issue has been raised and it will continue to be raised. We have all met Susan Russell and Sinead Tucker. The Department has confirmed to us that the budget has been approved. That sounds positive but the centre has still not received any money. Speaking to the parents would break your heart. The Department told me that the funding would enable the centre to remain operational while the board, Pobal and Dublin City Childcare Committee work together. However, I have again been contacted by the service, which says that it has had no meaningful contact from Pobal. To echo Deputies Ó Muirí and O'Callaghan, those involved do not feel supported. They feel abandoned. Pobal then confirmed that the funding is not intended to provide reimbursement. There is a serious issue there because people have used money to cover salaries, food and basic day-to-day running costs. Those contributions were fully disclosed. If that is disputed, somebody needs to sit down with the service and explain clearly what is covered and what is not. No one is argued against the need for things to be transparent but there also needs to be a sense of urgency. In the area I represent, parents are ringing me up and crying on the phone. We have all raised this through direct means. Children who have additional needs and who require support to be cared for in a service need support from Government. Will the Minister of State raise this issue with Pobal and with the Department with a view to arranging an urgent meeting with the staff?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-10-01/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-10-05T01:01:00+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-10-01