Ms Ida Lane:

The goldfish policy is a simple thing. A Tusla representative came in and saw that we have a goldfish. Questions were asked. Will the children touch it? Who cleans it? Who feeds the fish? It was pointed out that we can get all sorts of illnesses from that. The list was extraordinary. We were told we have to have a goldfish policy and that the fish had to be put up out of reach and sealed off. The children can look but not touch it. They never did touch it anyway because I am careful. The point was we had to have the policy written out. It is same with the hen. We were told the hen cannot run around the garden. She is in an enclosed run. The children were not allowed touch it or do anything. That was it simply.

Deputy Ward discussed the national childcare scheme. Payment under the scheme is hourly based but childminders charge per day or maybe per half day. This has been a problem with the scheme. Perhaps a parent has not been taking the full day for a time and the money has been recouped by the Department or Pobal or whoever. That is causing a problem for full-day carers. It would be a major problem for a childminder who is expecting €200 to come in for a week if €20 or €30 is taken back. This has to be reported. That is a big problem with the NCS especially where childminders are small operators and every cent earned is important for the family income.