Minister Foley publishes 2025 progress report for First 5, the whole of government strategy for babies, young children and their families From:

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The Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Norma Foley has today published the First 5 Annual Implementation Report 2025.

First 5, the ten-year Whole-of-Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and their Families set out an ambitious programme of work to improve services and supports to young children over the ten year period between 2019 and 2028.

There have been annual implementation reports every year to track progress in achieving First Five’s targets right across government.

Speaking about today’s publication, Minister Foley said:

“As Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, I am delighted to publish this update on the important work that is taking place to support babies, young children and their families in our country. It shows considerable progress has been made to deliver on our commitments under the First 5 Strategy

We are committed to maintaining the ambition at the heart of this strategy, adapting to evolving needs and building on our progress to help ensure all children benefit from positive early experiences and are given the best possible start in life.

I look forward to working with colleagues across Government and with the many important stakeholders involved in this work.”

The report published today summarises recent progress in implementing First 5 last year.

Key achievements include:

  • Two significant action plans for the early learning and care (ELC) and school-age childcare (SAC) sector were launched. ‘Shaping the Future’ delivers on the Programme for Government commitment to publish a detailed Action Plan to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible ELC and SAC system. The ‘Simplify and Support: Action Plan for Simplification’ will streamline administration and regulation in the sector
  • The Building Blocks Extension scheme for ELC and SAC services commenced in 2025 with 50 projects selected for funding, for extensions to existing premises for both private and community services, and the purchase or construction of new premises for community services.
  • Nutrition supports in ELC and SAC services were strengthened with the 2025 launch of the Bia Blasta (Delicious Food) pre‑school nutrition programme, providing daily nutritious lunches in over 470 Equal Start targeted settings in disadvantaged areas.
  • Work has also begun on developing a new, tailored version of the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) for children aged 0–3 years in ELC settings.
  • The Nurturing Skills Learner Fund continued to support early years educators and SAC practitioners to upskill through contributions to Level 7 and 8 ELC course fees, with over 700 applicants funded since its launch in 2024.
  • Children and Young People’s Services Committees (CYPSC) continued to play a key role in coordinating services, with the 2025 roll-out of an €81,000 Parenting Supports Awareness Fund across all 27 CYPSCs to promote local parenting supports.
  • An increase of 33% (€25,000) to the Parents Peer Support Fund compared to 2024 with a total of €100,000 in funding available in 2025 to organisations working with parents and/or children and young people to facilitate the development of parent peer support projects.

Notes to editors:

The First 5 Implementation Plan 2023-2025 was launched in November 2023. It includes 125 actions to improve the lives of babies, young children and their families. Some other key achievements in 2025 include:

A broader range of options for parents to balance working and caring

  • A combined total of 46 weeks of paid family leave is provided for two-parent families through Maternity, Paternity and Parent’s Leave and Benefit. This extended paid leave allows children to spend additional time with their parents during the critical stages of early development. These paid entitlements are supplemented by 16 weeks of unpaid maternity leave and 26 weeks of unpaid parental leave per parent, offering families further flexibility to meet their caring needs.
  • As part of Budget 2025, weekly payment rates for Maternity, Paternity, Adoptive and Parent’s Benefits were increased to €289 per week in 2025 (€299 in 2026). These payments are now aligned with the State Pension, making them among the highest individual payments in the social protection system and underscoring the State’s commitment to supporting new parents.
  • Future development of family supports will be guided by commitments in the Programme for Government and the National Strategy for Women and Girls 2025–2030, with any changes to leave and related supports considered within this broader policy context.
  • Significant progress has been made in promoting flexible and remote working through the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023, which introduced new statutory rights supported by a Workplace Relations Commission Code of Practice, with a review of flexible working provisions due to commence shortly.

A new model of parenting support

  • Tusla completed the development of its reform programme for implementation in January 2026. As part of that work, Tusla has developed a Local Integrated Service Delivery Framework, including family support teams at network level. Other work was also undertaken by Tusla to develop preventative and early intervention parenting supports, including the new National Home Visiting Programme and Parenting Support Advisor roles.
  • Parenting Support Services locally and nationally are being promoted across DCDE social channels.

New developments in child health

  • Progress was made on the dedicated child health workforce, with the Steering Group’s scoping of the current national and international approaches to the child health workforce complete. The Steering Group provided a report on work completed to the Minister for Health and shared this report with the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality. The report includes five recommendations and considerations for progressing the work. These are being actioned, with testing of a dedicated child health workforce underway.
  • Investment in 2024 and 2025 is delivering 8 new Postnatal Hubs; additional specialist midwives; and improvements in maternity services through research, audit and new clinical guidelines.
  • Significant progress has been made in supporting positive early mental health, with over 300 practitioners trained in the Togetherness programme and a further 99 trained as trainers to support its wider implementation across sectors.

A package of measures to tackle early childhood poverty and disadvantage

  • Almost 247,000 children benefited from the National Childcare Scheme in 2025, with further enhancements from September 2026 set to expand income thresholds and increase multiple-child deductions, ensuring families below the relative income poverty line receive maximum subsidies.
  • The strategy also contributes to wider commitments under From Poverty to Potential and Ireland’s EU Child Guarantee Action Plan, including through initiatives such as the DCDE-led What Works Initiative, which in 2025 funded a second year of pilot Local Area Child Poverty Action Plans in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown/Wicklow, Kildare, Monaghan and Tipperary to improve service integration and outcomes for disadvantaged children and families.