Ms Karen O'Sullivan:

In terms of the top three issues, if one asked private providers and community providers everyone would have slightly different ones but for me personally in Cork the first is baseline costs, which vary hugely. If one is in or around the suburbs of Cork one is paying much higher rates and higher rents than someone in a rural area. Baseline costs and their variability have an impact.

The second is reliance on funding schemes. We have to be honest. The funding schemes are keeping everyone open. One has to adapt one's model to suit the funding. The third issue is the rapid pace of change. Sometimes I think our providers would just like us to stop, take a breath, review and then move forward. We, as child care committees, would welcome that opportunity as well.