Ms Frances Byrne:

Certainly, from Early Childhood Ireland's point of view and not to be remotely disrespectful to Deputy Sherlock, the short and long answer is "Yes, of course it should". We have said this since the evening the Minister called the meeting with the sector to say that she had brought this to the Cabinet and it was happening. It was very regrettable that it took another three weeks to sort it all out and it certainly caused great anxiety. Absolutely, we and others have been asking for this for the last few years and we have been told repeatedly that it could not happen, that it was intervening in a private sector and so forth. Now it has happened through Covid-19. As we say strongly in our submission, it absolutely must be at the basis of the funding as we go forward. It is so important. The most important people who go into settings every day are the 206,000 babies and children, but-----