Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

If the Deputies and Senators want to ask anything else, they are more than welcome to.

I have a question. I am a little like Deputy Anne Rabbitte in that I have two sisters who were child care providers. I am talking about 30 years ago and the horse has already bolted in my case. It is fascinating to hear this and I only wish 30 years ago there was something like this where there was a measuring and monitoring of child care services. I will address my question, which is probably not relevant, to Ms Hilliard. Although my children are grown up, one of them, who is a teacher, would say that what is happening here with children coming from care providers such as Ms Hilliard is an incredibly positive development for the child who is more ready now for school than he or she would have been if he or she had not gone to a care provider. I recall children screaming and crying at the school door.

Is there some sort of structure in place? For example, one of the primary school teachers would have said that some children come in who do not know how to grip the pencil properly or some places may not be teaching phonetics. Some places will have a refusal policy, in other words where a child does not have to engage in an activity if he or she does not want to. Then there is the difference between playing and teaching. My daughter would have said one can see in a class where there is a difference between the child who has been taught and the child who has not but who has been allowed to play. Is there a uniform structure?