640. Deputy John Paul O'Shea asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to provide an update on the proposed establishment of a dedicated childcare agency; the current status of the proposal; the progress made to date; the expected timeline for its establishment; the functions and responsibilities the agency will have; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [51107/26]

On 29th March 2022 Government accepted the findings of the independent Review of the Early Learning and Childcare Operating Model in Ireland that a dedicated State Agency is the optimal operating model for the early learning and childcare sector for the years ahead.

Significant progress has already been made in advancing this ambitious and transformative reform programme. A Programme Oversight Board was established to oversee this important work. It was comprised of interdepartmental representatives alongside several external experts with experience at senior level in change management, large-scale reform, leadership, governance, public policy, and a knowledge of the sector.

The Department engaged independent consultants Indecon in December 2023, on foot of a competitive procurement process, to undertake an initial phase of research, analysis and stakeholder engagement to inform the design of the Agency. The Department committed to ongoing and extensive consultation with stakeholders as to how best to design and implement the recommendation to establish a new Agency. In December 2023 the first of a series of stakeholder consultation sessions attended by Pobal, City/County Childcare Committee managers, staff and board members along with wider stakeholders in the Early Years sector with the focus on the Agency vision, mission and values. A report has been compiled from these initial consultations and the report has been circulated to the participating stakeholders and published to the Agency web page. Consultation events also took place throughout 2024 with the focus on function mapping for the Agency and mapping of the workforce across the operating model.

Indecon’s work is largely complete and in November 2025 a draft consolidated report was approved in principle by the Agency Programme Oversight Board. Those final edits are being concluded.

In the coming weeks further consultation and engagement with key Government Departments on the findings of the report is planned. This will be in advance of returning to update government, as was committed to in the decision of March 2022.