Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

That has answered the question for me. I did not believe for one minute that the witnesses did not consider it valuable or worthwhile to participate in the scheme. There were obviously very complex obstacles for the sector. However, several of the witnesses have mentioned the fractured nature of the services and how there are so many different organisations overseeing different aspects of it. Believe me, I am not the witnesses' enemy. I think they are all wonderful and I know lots of childcare providers and workers in my own community. However, it strikes me - this is a point the witnesses may not like me making - that one of the problems we have is that this country has the highest level of private childcare provision in the whole of the OECD. The levels are huge compared with other countries, with the data showing that 99% of children attending pre-primary education are enrolled in private facilities, compared with an OECD average of 34%. Other Deputies talked about the need for a conversation and probably citizens' assembly to look at the issue of childcare provision.

We really have to cop on in this country and look at the public provision of childcare in the same way as we look at the public provision of education and health. That should not exclude the witnesses or the very dedicated and highly trained workers who work with them. Instead, I believe it should encompass them. We need to start to look at such a public model because the data show the benefits of it. The Nordic countries are always the best. I have seen that at first hand as my two nephews grew up in Sweden. In Sweden, they spend 1% of GDP on childcare and we spend approximately 0.4%. There are higher returns for children with high levels of public investment. That high level of public investment also leads to better security and better returns for the parents and a higher level of maternal workplace engagement. It would probably have gone a long way towards helping to solve the problems we had with front-line workers. The fees are lower for parents and in general the outcomes are much better.

I emphasise that I am not opposed to those in the private childcare sector; I am on their side. In the brief time we have left I ask the witnesses to comment on the need to move to the public provision of childcare and to a higher spend of GDP on childcare.