Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In terms of the early years investment, we now have for the first time - from the ESRI study on work and others - results of research on Irish children and the benefits of early years intervention. We have a long way to go before there will be a shared understanding of that at societal level. We have not had sufficient focus on early years. While we say we are very child centred, and while the Government is trying to be child centred through the establishment of my Department and my work, as a society we focus quite a lot on primary school years and the years thereafter without focusing greatly on early years. This committee and I are trying to change that by examining how services develop, highlighting the needs that exist and working to meet those needs. There is no doubt that the focus has been more on the years from primary school onwards than on early years. We need a dramatic change in order to realise the potential of early years and put the necessary services in place. Many of those services will centre around parenting supports. It is not simply about child care; it is also about our approach to maternity leave. The early years strategy will examine this broad range of issues. It includes, for example, the breast-feeding rate in Ireland, which is so low by comparison with those in other countries. We have disturbing research showing that the breast-feeding rate of immigrant women in Ireland drops when they come here, presumably because of cultural attitudes. All of these issues are about the early years. We have a lot of work to do still to ensure greater appreciation at national level of the importance of early years, although every parent instinctively knows that. In terms of the supports and development of the services, we are at an early enough stage.

I have addressed most of the issues. My comment on the Department of Social Protection was simply to highlight that the change in terms of the double payments has affected those who are available to work in the sector, but the key and more important point concerns qualifications and training for everybody involved. We should not be using untrained workers in the child care sector.