Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Probably there is a little bit of a love-in here because everybody is in agreement with the policies pursued by the Department. I concur. It is interesting that the only person sitting at this committee from whom there is any criticism is from the party that took €300 million directly out of child care payments to families at a time when there were buckets of money in the country. It is a bit rich.

I welcome the extra €9 million the Minister has provided for CE placements. Community child care facilities are second to none and provide invaluable resources particularly for people who are not as well off as others in society. I would like to see community child care rolled out to every town and village and given the constraints under which the Minister is operating that €9 million is very effective. Given that the Minister is at the table, it is welcome that a cross-departmental approach is being taken to the issues around early childhood years. It is testament to the Minister that other Ministers are serious in their activities to support her Department with their activation measures, not least the Minister for Social Protection but, particularly, the Minister for Finance. I congratulate her and we will support her in any way we can.