Ms Mary Walsh:

On affordability or making childcare more expensive, no major capital investment is required for childminders. The house and building are there although equipment is possibly needed. Unless regulation is overly onerous, no major investment will be required. However, investment is needed in the mentoring of childminders, by experienced childminders, in order to make this transition. That is really important because many childminders have come through the system already and left it because of over-regulation. That needs to be addressed in order to bring those people back. A lot of money was spent in the early 2000s on childminders who left the system completely because crèche-based regulations were imposed on them and they were frightened out of the sector.