James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I hear the Deputy's concerns. There are concerns from a pragmatic point of view about the effect of the inclusion of a single person. There is a limit to how many children a single person can mind. That person would then be writing up the child safeguarding statement for herself or himself.

That seems a little less than productive. In addition, childminders often mind children in their own home and in the child's home. For instance, if I brought somebody into my home to mind my children, how would this person write up a child safety statement relating to my home, then another one relating to Deputy Ó Caoláin's home because she minds his children on a Thursday, and yet another one on the home of another Deputy, whose children she minds on a Friday? I am not closed to the Deputy's proposal and I hear his concerns, but there is a practical issue here for individuals who are single childminders, working on their own. People have to make their own decisions around the suitability of individuals who mind their children. That is a separate issue. A child safety statement in itself is not an absolute guarantee. It is aimed at people who have one or more employees. They must have a child safety statement for their premises for the risk they feel might arise.