I start by wishing everybody in the house a happy new year. On Monday, 12 January, The Echo, a Cork local newspaper known to the Taoiseach and me, reported dozens of early childcare facilities closing across Cork. In fact, 130 facilities have closed in the past five years in Cork and that is echoed throughout Ireland. Providers are warning that Government funding levels, statutory burdens and staffing pressures are making the sector financially unviable. Many parents are losing places, not just in Cork but across the country. Staff are leaving the profession and the community is left without housing. Will the Taoiseach now admit that his Government has got it wrong, its policies are actively driving the providers out of business and working families deserve better? These providers do not need additional paperwork and they certainly do not need platitudes.

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