Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his clarification on the ECCE year. The fact the commercial operator who exclusively provides the ECCE year is exempt makes the case, given what has happened with the sports facilities, for that exemption to be carried across to the person who provides the diversity of service for child care, be it crèche facilities, ECCE or after-school services. It is possible to quantify this in terms of square metres per child in that there is a size requirement for the level of service being delivered. I ask the Minister of State to reconsider this. I know from negotiations I have had with the sector and with the Department of Children and Youth Affairs that there is a space per child requirement and it is possible to extrapolate from that what element could or should be exempted.