Ms Teresa Heeney:

I thank the Deputy for his questions. I will not address the one he specifically put to Ms Orbinski Burke. One of the things we need to be in these discussions is ambitious for the early years and childcare sector in Ireland. As the Deputy correctly pointed out, our sector has really delivered throughout the pandemic. We must not forget that and it certainly must not be forgotten in the forthcoming budget. We are in the middle of discussions about a new funding model and a workforce development plan. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, shared with us in the Dáil a few weeks ago that he is hopeful of an increase in the budget for this sector arising out of the findings of those engagements.

One of the points I want to make is that we would never plan an education system for primary schools without seeking to ensure that children do not have to travel far to attend school. It is not beyond us to plan similarly for younger children. We need a local planning mechanism that has an appropriate line of sight on the number of childminders working within a local area and also takes into account the number of playschools and centre-based settings. This would enable us to know the capacity of each individual rural area, education district or whatever measure we want to use and allow us to plan for an expansion of the sector, whether by increasing the number of childminders or centre-based settings. We absolutely must be ambitious for the sector and plan properly in order to ensure a large, diverse mix of provision in each local area.

On the Deputy's question regarding the steering group for the implementation plan, my understanding is that the group has not yet been convened. It is up to all of us to ensure the voices that need to be around the table will be accommodated. I agree with my colleagues that childminders should be at that table and that we must get a good range of voices. I thank the Deputy for his question and I hope that answers it to some extent.