Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to return to an issue that concerns parents throughout the State in respect of where their children will go on 1 January. There are serious issues in the childcare sector. There have been reports of crèches operating without registration, of staff taking up positions without qualifications and of crèches that will be unable to open their doors on 1 January because of the insurance crisis. This disjointed sector is overseen by a number of Departments, is seriously dysfunctional in the way it is monitored, funded and so on, and has led to the crisis we face.

As the Taoiseach will be aware, Tusla was given powers in 2016 in respect of re-registration, the deadline for which was 12 December. I understand that many crèches have not re-registered and that there could be as many as hundreds. There is an issue with insurance. The Taoiseach stated earlier that crèches will not need insurance for 2020 to register. Is he suggesting in some way that crèches should operate without insurance on 1 January? There is a serious crisis, about which neither the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, or the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Zappone, has found the time to have a conversation.

The Taoiseach dismissed my call earlier for a Cabinet sub-committee. He can forget about me. What parents and workers in the sector expect is the Government to intervene where there has been a serious failure and that is clearly the case at this point. Many operators will be worried as they close the doors this weekend, as will many parents and employers, because of the important role that such centres play.

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