Nessa Cosgrove (Labour) | Oireachtas source

The witnesses are very welcome. I thank them all for their statements. Ms Bayliss mentioned the Parliamentary Budget Office. The outlook is not looking good if the Parliamentary Budget Office is saying that a rise in income poverty is evident for the elderly, increasing from 13.3% in 2024. Child poverty also rose from 15.3% in 2024 to a forecasted 16.1%. I want to ask Ms Bayliss about pay, because she brought that up. An opportunity was missed by the Government in that it did not move to a living wage as recommended. We can see people on minimum wage. Ms Bayliss spoke about people working in hospitality and low-pay sectors. Some 200,000 people will be €600 worse off because of this budget. Ms Bayliss spoke about how single-parent families’ access to childcare is a big problem. Childminders are not included in the national childare scheme. How can we change that or increase eligibility in order that childminders can be included? Is it too cumbersome? Is it because they have to be registered with Tusla? Why is the take-up so low?