Ms Teresa Heeney:

Many of the suggestions we are hearing today are all described and set out very well in the Department's First 5 strategy. As my colleague, Ms Byrne, alluded to earlier, part of the strategy is a workforce development plan and the development of a funding model that the Department had begun before Covid. We certainly hope it will begin the process again quickly. Another commitment in the strategy is the extension of maternity leave up to one year to cover the first full year of the child's life. International evidence is that this is in the best interests of children and it certainly should be a key part of the new single agency that we see in the programme for Government.