I wish to ask the Minister about the cost of childcare, which remains very high for a lot of parents and families. There is a commitment in the programme for Government to reduce the cost of childcare. How does the Minister intend to go about this and does she have a timeframe in mind for reducing the costs for families?

Sentiment score: 0.26

Does the Minister envisage investing more in the national childcare scheme to bring down the costs directly for parents? This is what Sinn Féin had proposed with our €10 per day plan, which is around €200 per month. This is using what is there with the current mechanism as the quickest way to bring down the costs of childcare. While the Government repeatedly tells us that the costs of childcare have halved there are families still paying well over €1,000 a month for childcare. Parents are really struggling to cover the costs. Accessibility was mentioned. Of course accessibility is just as important as affordability because it is fine if one can afford it, but one must be able to access it in the first place. Pobal has told us that 30,000 children are on waiting lists for childcare places, and many of these places just do not exist. We need to look at quick ways we can bring costs down and quick ways to grow the numbers of places available. Is it through the national childcare scheme that the Minister would look to reduce those costs, as she has done to date?

Sentiment score: 0.00

In our own proposal on the €200 per month, we looked at using the national childcare scheme and expanding it to childminders. That would really assist in building capacity in the sector because for many parents, the choice is no longer there. If they want to get the subsidy and need help in affording childcare, they have to look to the formal setting whereas in rural areas in particular, a local childminder might actually suit people, especially those doing shift work. We should look to expand the NCS to childminders. It would give greater choice to parents and would improve and build capacity, which is really badly needed. I asked the Minister's predecessor about some really good ideas Social Enterprise Republic of Ireland had about using existing buildings as community hubs, which would include a childcare element. There are some really good examples. There is one in Donegal. There are after-school activities, a crèche, music and sports all under one roof. Things like that should be looked at.

Sentiment score: 0.21