Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank everybody for their time and engaging presentations. Ms Quinn just mentioned the return. There are studies going back to the 1970s including the Perry pre-school project in the USA which showed that for every $1 invested, there was a return of $16. Ms Quinn is right that it takes someone with a bit of vision. It is not something that will be achieved in the cycle of a government. It is long-term. It is something that we, as committee members, will absolutely take away to put towards our final report.

It is important to state that this issue is not the responsibility of only one Department. All the studies in this area have shown that if we invest in children at an early enough stage, they are much less likely to ever need the services of the Department of Justice and Equality or the Department of Social Protection. Major savings are incurred from such investment, but it requires vision and long-term planning. Having worked in this area as a social worker and in the early years services prior to my election to the Dáil, I sense that a change is coming. It it a great testimony to the workers in this area, who are very busy all the time looking after, engaging and educating our young children, that they have taken it upon themselves in recent years to come together not only to put their case but the case of the children to us, the policy-makers. I thank all those people who are doing that. It is an area about which I and the committee are very passionate and in which we are very interested.

I look forward to working and engaging with our guests further. I found this morning's session very engaging. Throughout all these hearings we have often had all-female panels, which does not happen very often in the Houses of the Oireachtas. I thank all our guests for giving of their time today. I also thank all committee members. A number of very interesting issues have been raised which will be considered as part of the committee's report.