Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach for letting me back in. I am not sure the area of childminders was brought up previously. We rely heavily on our childminder for our two year-old and three and a half year-old. She provides a fantastic service and we cannot speak highly enough of her. She has also expressed her concerns and fears from listening to the issues from small services and what they are having to deal with around the administrative burden, etc. Consequently, I have questions about the Department's engagement with childminders. When will the public consultation on the draft legislation for childminders be published? Have any concerns been brought to the Department's attention and what type of engagement-led discussions has it had with that sector? It is crucial we maintain childminders. It is true we need to do a bit of work on the registration and the inspectorate, but childminders are critical because without them a lot of households would not be able to have that flexibility, especially when ECCE and full day care services close during Easter and the summer months. I would like the officials' feedback on that.