966. Deputy Johnny Guirke asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality her plans to increase the provision of Irish-medium early years services in County Meath; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34474/26]

Improving access to quality and affordable Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare is a key priority of Government.

Early learning and childcare capacity is increasing. Data from the Annual Early Years Sector Profile 2024/25 shows that the estimated number of enrolments increased by approximately 25% from the 2021/22 programme year. Enrolments in Meath during this time increased by 39.9%.

Data from the Annual Early Years Sector Profile 2024/25 indicates that, nationally, 4% of Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School-Age Childcare (SAC) services are wholly Irish-medium, while 3% are mixed settings where part of the service is Irish-medium part is English-medium. These figures have remained consistent since 2022/23.

The Department is working in collaboration with other relevant Departments and Agencies to develop a national plan to further the development of Irish language provision in the Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School-Age Childcare (SAC) sector. The development of such a plan is a commitment in the 5-Year Action Plan for the Irish Language.

The national plan is expected to support the delivery of two commitments in First 5 (the Whole-of-Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and their Families): “Introduce measures to ensure that children in Gaeltacht areas have access to Irish-medium ELC provision” and “Develop mechanisms to provide Irish-language supports to ELC provision where there are high proportions of children who are learning through the medium of Irish”.

The plan is also expected to support the delivery of commitments in the Programme for Government to: “Support naíonraí and creches to ensure early education access in Gaeltacht communities and beyond” and “Plan the development of State-led facilities in tandem with the school building programme, including Irish-medium naíonraí”.

A survey of Irish-medium ELC and SAC settings including childminders was undertaken in 2022-2023 to obtain a baseline of the current level of Irish-medium provision in the sector, to inform the development of the national plan. A public consultation and a programme of research, including a literature review, took place in 2024. A consultation with children was completed in 2025. It is expected the plan will be launched in the coming months.