Is the Taoiseach aware that parents of children with additional needs are now facing the prospect of being unable to access early years childcare services because of the Government's failure to support the childcare sector? In 2021, the Government made two clear promises, namely, that childcare costs would be reduced to €200 per month and that providers would be supported through a new core funding model. The reality is that it has failed on both counts. Childcare providers honoured their side of the agreement. When core funding was introduced, they accepted fee freezes because they believed the Government would work with them to address the mounting pressures facing the sector.

Instead, providers were left carrying rising costs, increasing regulation, staff shortages and growing financial burdens while Government Ministers sat on their hands. Today, we are witnessing the consequences. Children with additional needs are at risk of losing access to vital services. Parents who rely on childcare to remain in employment are facing impossible choices. Many will have to reduce their hours, take unpaid leave or in some cases leave the workforce entirely to care for their children. That comes at a huge personal cost to families and significant economic cost to the State.

This crisis did not appear overnight. It is a direct result of Government inaction. Every week another childcare provider closes its doors. Since 2021, 137 crèches have closed in the Taoiseach's county alone. Nationally, 977 early years childcare services have shut down in that time. That represents childcare places for between 32,000 and 35,000 children disappearing from communities across the country. At the same time, approximately 40,000 children are now on waiting lists, with rural Ireland being hit hardest. Families in towns and villages are finding that there are no places available. Yet, when challenged on these figures, the Government points to the opening of 579 new services since 2021. What the Government fails to tell the people is that these are predominantly after-school services and do little or nothing to address the collapse in early years provision.

Once again, we see the Government massaging figures to suit a political narrative rather than confronting the reality facing families. The most vulnerable children in our society need support, their parents need support and childcare providers need support. Instead, they have been ignored. The solution is neither complicated nor unreasonable. Providers are calling on the Government to reverse the funding freezes and introduce a sustainable funding model that reflects the real cost of delivering childcare. They are asking to be treated as partners rather than an afterthought, but that respect has never come. Instead, it is the same old story. The men and women who get up early every morning to go to work, pay their taxes and try to provide for their families continue to be squeezed from every direction. Childcare providers are being choked by costs and parents are being left without options. This sector is on the brink. The warning signs have been there for years. How many more closures, how many more waiting lists and how many more families must be pushed to breaking point before the Government finally acts?

We need a sense of balance and perspective here. The Deputy's assessment is way off the mark, in terms of painting a picture of where childcare is today compared with where it was even five years ago. We have delivered more progress on childcare in five years than in the previous 30 years. Costs are down by 36%, investment is at a record high and now, for the first time in the State's history, we are beginning to directly build childcare facilities. New measures announced this month will reduce fees further from September 2026. Childcare will be a central priority in budget 2027. We will really focus on it. I know that the Minister, Deputy Norma Foley, has significant proposals which will be part of the budget preparations and negotiations. We are very conscious of the essential role that childcare plays, first of all, in the development of the child. We always have to keep the child centre stage in respect of childcare provision and child development, and then in terms of parents and to facilitate people to access the workplace.

Core funding participation is at its highest level since the scheme began, despite what the Deputy has said. As of today, over 4,590 services have signed up for the 2025-26 programme, making this the largest number of partner services in core funding since the launch. Some 177 services left core funding at some point over the lifetime of the scheme and currently operate outside of it. A total of 415 services left at some point but later rejoined and are now participating in year 4. Over 70% of services that had exited have returned. This demonstrates the scheme's underlying strength and stability. More than 92% of eligible providers remained engaged across the first three years of core funding, showing sustained sector-wide participation. We increased core funding again this year to about €480 million. That is an increase of €90 million on the current year.

We are just 16 months into a five-year term for this Government. We are focusing on reducing the fees and core funding is a mechanism for doing that. We have made significant progress in relation to that. For a typical full-day place, the maximum fee drops from approximately €280 to €183 per week, after the universal national childcare subsidy scheme. This is a saving of over €600 per family since we froze price levels in 2022. We are also increasing income thresholds from September. About 25% of children in the national childcare scheme are now already paying under €200 per month. We will make continued progress on increasing the number who will be paying €200 or less and we will make a significant move on that in the forthcoming budget.

My assessment is not way off the mark. I have sat down with early childcare providers and they are telling me this. They are the people who are on the ground. They know the crisis that is there. This is no longer a crisis but an implosion that is unfolding before the Government's eyes. The truth is that the Government has allowed the sector to drift from crisis into collapse. It is jeopardising the future of thousands of children, particularly those with additional needs, who depend on these services. What makes this even more astonishing is that after years of rising costs, soaring inflation and relentless financial pressure, the Government's response was to increase the base core funding rate by just 9 cent per child per hour. In what world does a 9 cent increase even begin to address inflation, wage pressures, insurance costs, energy bills and the wider cost-of-living crisis? It is completely detached from the reality facing providers on the ground. For once, stop kicking this issue down the road. Stop hiding behind future budgets and long-term reviews. The sector needs action now and not another promise, not another consultation and not another excuse. If the Government does not act urgently, the damage being done to children, families and childcare providers will be felt for years to come.

Budget 2026 invested almost €1.5 billion in early learning and childcare, which is a 12% increase. Going back a decade, that figure was €260 million. Numbers speak for themselves in terms of the funding. A total of 277,000 children will benefit from the national childcare scheme in 2026. That is 27,000 more than last year. That is not collapse; it is expansion. Childcare prices have fallen by 36% since October 2022, with fees held at 2021 levels while the rest of the cost of living has risen. Some 105,000 children accessed two free preschool years under ECCE.

The access and inclusion model supports a record 8,400 children with special needs or disabilities. That figure is up from 7,900. A total of 806 services receive equal start targeted supports, reaching 38,000 vulnerable children. For the first time in the history of the State, the Government is directly building and acquiring childcare facilities. Up to eight facilities will be delivered in 2026. That is not collapse; that is expansion. Yes, there are challenges. We will do more again in the forthcoming budget to copper-fasten, consolidate and expand services and reduce the price that people have to pay for childcare.