This report captures a year of considerable progress, impact and achievement in the key areas of policy responsibility for the Department. This includes improving the lives of disabled people by providing supports and services, investing in high quality, accessible and affordable early learning and childcare opportunities for all, enhancing child welfare and protection provision and optimizing outcomes for children, young people and their families and addressing equality and inclusion as whole of Government issue.

Some key highlights during the year included –

• The publication of a number of key strategies including the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People, the National Strategy for Women and Girls 2025-2030 and the National LGBTIQ+ Inclusion Strategy II and its first two year Action Plan.
• Funding for early learning and childcare increased from €1.109bn in 2024 to €1.375bn in 2025. Over the same period, the capital allocation increased from €20m to €30m.
• A total of 246,967 children benefitted from the National Childcare Scheme and legacy targeted schemes.
• In 2025, a record investment of over €1.2 billion was secured for Tusla. An additional €1 million was made available to support Tusla to address staffing issues in special care along with €1.55million for the provision of supplementary step-down placements and the capital funding to purchase, renovate and equip those units.
• The Department launched a centralised reporting database (the Gender Pay Gap Portal). This will make information on employers’ gender pay gaps more accessible to the public and provide for a greater utilisation of the information to work towards eliminating the gender pay gap.
• The appointment of the Director of the Guardian ad litem National Service and the establishment of this Service as an Executive Office of the Department of Children Disability and Equality, marked a significant transformation of the child protection and welfare service system. Children, and their best interests, are at the centre of the National Service. The new National Service will create a national, professional, high quality service that better serves children and the courts.