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?

Sentiment score: -0.02

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.

Sentiment score: -0.29