Brendan Smith: Urges Faster Delivery of Childcare Funding

Minister, as you know, Chapter 15 of the National Development Plan is titled Access to Quality Childcare, Education and Health Services. Well, with an increasing demand for places across all of those sectors, be it childcare, education, health and disability services, it's absolutely essential Minister that we have that increased investment put to use as quickly as possible. We need increased facilities both in rural and urban Ireland and I sincerely hope that the money that's allocated can be spent as quickly as possible and not have the interminable delays that have occurred over the years in so many worthwhile projects. Thank you, Oireachtas. Thank you Deputy Smith and in the 2021 National Development Plan review government originally committed to £165 billion of investment out to 2030 and we've subsequently agreed to £2.25 billion in March 2024 out to 2026. The revised National Development Plan sets out over £275 billion of public capital investment out to 2035, the largest and most significant capital injection in our economy and in the history of the state. Following the agreement in July 2025, gross capital expenditure ceilings have now been set out and while we've prioritised investment towards critical growth enabling sectors of housing, energy, water and transport, all departments have now prepared sectoral plans for the upcoming five years out to 2030 and they've set out detail around projects to be progressed. National Strategic Objective 10, as you mentioned, refers to quality childcare, education and health services and the government allocated over €7.55 billion to education projects over the next number of years, £795 million to the Department of Children and £9.25 billion to the Department of Health across the next five years and this will be hugely important to build the social infrastructure that you mentioned, so important to communities across our country and we've set out the detail around that in the context of the health service, building out many of the education projects, particularly in the special education area and also the Department of Children which Minister Foley is advancing. What I'd say is the National Strategic Objective 10 is reflected in the capital investment tracker which provides a composite update of the progress of all major investments with an estimated cost of greater than €20 million and sets out the county-specific basis specifically for investments in schools and health facilities relating to NSO 10 and as you've mentioned it's not only about what we allocate but it's also about what we deliver and how quickly we can deliver it and that's why as much focus is going for me on reforming how we deliver infrastructure as it is what we allocate to where. Thank you Minister for your reply. Minister I heard you speak at the recent British Irish Parliamentary Assembly meeting and you said in far too many instances over the years process won out over delivery in regard to the capital programmes for different government departments. Minister may I refer just in particular to the childcare sector. Minister Foley obviously with your approval as well introduced a few years ago or recently the Building Blocks Grant Scheme towards the provision of new childcare places or the upgrade of existing facilities. Now that's a very worthwhile program in my own constituency I know I had Minister Foley visit recently and she met at first hand with some of the providers who have availed of the Building Blocks Grant Scheme and met with others who urgently need to increase capacity or upgrade existing capacity. Minister that's a scheme that I believe needs additional investment. You may recall Minister that you were predecessor in Dublin West at 8, Brian Lennon our colleague. Brian and myself were both Ministers for Children between 2004 and 2008 and at that time Minister we were grant aiding new childcare facilities in excess of 1 million euro at that time and those four to five years were the period in this country when massive development took place necessary in building a whole new infrastructure childcare facility both through the community sector and the private provider. We need a repeat of that today Minister. Thank you Minister. Thank you Deputy and I know the significant work in fact that was undertaken by that government and even in in more difficult economic times where I think with Minister Andrews at the time introduced an important initiative in terms of the affordability of childcare which has been built on in recent years. So that was a central part of the work with Minister Foley as part of the revised national development plan. The central part of the work with Minister Foley as part of the revised national development plan the 795 million euro to the Department of Children is to enable Minister Foley to start to to do more in the context of capital investment in childcare in particular. I think there is a need to work say with it between childcare but also in our education setting if you take the demographic shift what's happening which is happening in Ireland in the medium to long term I think there's a there's an important opportunity to use our school facilities and that's happening in many communities as well and how we coordinate that from the capital investment from childcare specific Department of Children for separate community facilities but also to work with schools to to to actually utilize existing facilities as well and that coordination is ongoing but Minister Foley received a significant allocation. Thank you Minister. Deputy. Thank you Ciarán and thank the Minister for your reply. Minister and the need for additional childcare places is replicated both in the small areas I'm working with groups and small parishes and villages such as the den toddlers play group in Crosskeys County, Calvin and with the happy days childcare group in Beltorba County, Calvin. Crosskeys is a small village Beltorba is a small town but they have a huge demand for additional places as our acting as our Ciarán would know so it's extremely important that that building block scheme is expanded if at all possible. Similarly with Disability Services Minister and two particular needs in our own constituency is the need to expand considerably the Drumlin House training centre and I'm very glad that substantial capital funding is approved in respect of that development and also a day activation unit at Calvin town which which provides day services for young adults with complex needs. At present they are in totally unsuitable accommodation and again I'm very glad that the HSE in conjunction with Minister Forley's department are advancing that project but again and again despite the best efforts of the HSE officials at local level it takes far too long to get a project to construction stage. So Minister I sincerely hope that you can get that message through right to every department in the agency. Thank you. The process must not be an over delivery. Thank you. Minister, I absolutely agree with you and that's central to what we're doing around reforming infrastructure delivery it's to cut out as much process as possible and to put delivery at the centre that's why we're on track in fact in our infrastructure reforms of the 35 actions that were set out for implementation in quarter one, 34 have been delivered and one is about to be delivered imminently and why the same in quarter two we're working every day to drive improved delivery, reduce process, rebalance regulation and ensure that deliveries at the centre everything we do in every area of social and economic infrastructure and and that will yield improved delivery in childcare and in wider areas across the economy and so look I I will work with Minister Foley to ensure her sectoral investment plan in the Department of Children is advanced quickly as well and I I know she worked extensively to ensure that the 795 million allocated across the next five years yields that improved delivery of childcare across communities in the country. Thank you Minister.