Ms Karen McGowan:

It is horrendous. As Ms Ní Sheaghdha has stated, staff have experienced different scenarios, often not very desirable ones, such as arrangements with colleagues to mind other children. The mixing of households and so on complicates everything. It is extremely difficult. A lot of our members have elderly parents who would have normally looked after their children, but are not in a position to do so now because they need to cocoon. This has resulted in a significant cost for them. They have had to hire people to take care of their children privately so that they can make sure they can go to work. It is a significant burden for our members. I am hearing day in and day out that it is a huge problem.