Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

That is an important and practical question. I will add another before I give you all the last word. It is on the point about accessibility in settings. It is also a very gendered point. We have spoken about workplace crèches in childcare and there was a lot of debate in different workplaces about having workplace crèches and childcare. The difficulty is that if it is typically in the woman's workplace the responsibility is always on the mother to do the pick-up and drop-off. It may not be in the best interests of the child or, indeed, of the family because if there is a two-parent family, the father will not be involved in the pick-up or drop-off and will not be rung by the childcare provider. It comes back to the point Deputy Clarke is making about where parents have a long commute. This is a major issue in commuter counties around Dublin too, more generally. Should the crèche or childcare facility be near the workplace, the home or the school? Do you have any thoughts on that? There is a very interesting gendered point about which of the parents in a two-parent family is going to be responsible for the crèche drop-off and pick-up. It is a crucial, practical point.

I will call Ms Byrne first, followed by Mr. Peelo and Mr. O'Connor. This is the last round.