Ms Linda Kane:

The Deputy is right that the cost of housing and childcare can be barriers to attracting the high-skilled and highly mobile labour we are seeking to attract to Ireland. The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth is working on new funding models for the early learning and childcare and the school age childcare schemes. In our report, we have called for the analysis and recommendations in that report, which is due in the fourth quarter of this year, to be action on as soon as possible. OECD data show that we are the most expensive place in both net and gross terms to acquire childcare, if a place can even be secured. It can be quite difficult to even secure one. That lack of supply is acting as a barrier to attracting the highly mobile labour we are looking for.

There is a similar issue with housing. Following the last property crash, we saw the supply of housing dry up. That is only coming back on track now. A significant deficit has obviously been built up over the years. In our report in September, we called for the actions in the recently released Housing for All strategy to be implemented in a step-by-step fashion to make sure the supply comes online. We really need that supply to be boosted. We would like to see action on all the measures coming from that side. These are all quite big issues. Actions need to be taken with a sense of urgency now that will deliver in the years to come. That is one of the main things that we will push for.