Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming in and for all of the work done to begin next week.

There is some uncertainty about the public health advice we have now which may be different from what happens in September. For example, a childcare provider local to me is a small place within two rooms. Many parents using the facility have been early childhood care and education, ECCE, only. Due to the new arrangements requiring the pod system and the same children with the same childcare worker, the model is essentially disrupted because they do not have this physical space to be able to keep people separate enough. For example, in order to leave, one has to go through another room. That is just a one practical example.

Business decisions will be needed to be made by certain providers. If advice in September or October proves to be substantially different and providers have made a decision that they cannot or will not be able to sustain services based on the current model, this will have an impact on the different parents. How is the Department thinking about that small cohort which are in real difficulties about reopening on Monday but may in fact be okay if the model were to change? What is the Department's forecasting on that?