Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I also thank the Minister and her staff for making themselves so available and congratulate them on accomplishing quite a lot in getting the legislation to the floor of the House yesterday.

Somebody who is childminding at home can benefit if she registers because she can get support from the child care committee and get a tax rebate of up to €15,000. It is predominantly women who do that and it is a voluntary system. More importantly for women, they can make a PRSI contribution to a pension. There are many benefits for women at home who are minding children. They do not need to be afraid to get involved and to register and we would have a much better system if people did so.