Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am sorry for missing the start of the presentation. I have one question in connection with some of the criticism directed at the new scheme. It relates in particular to those who stay at home. Ms Heeney may have covered this point, so I apologise if it has been covered already. The problem is those who stay at home to take care of their children should be recognised financially in some way by the Government. That is what people are saying.

I imagine several people here watched the television programme - I get confused between "Claire Byrne Live" and "Prime Time". Anyway, no one on the programme was happy with the new scheme. I imagine no one would leave the house at that time of night to go on a television programme unless they had something to complain about. Yesterday in the Seanad it struck me that everyone on all sides of the House seemed pretty happy with the scheme. Those in Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil as well as many of the Independents seemed, for the most part, happy with the new scheme. What are the views of the Early Childhood Ireland representatives on the points made by those who stay at home and on the criticism directed at the scheme generally?