Ms Christine Moloney:

I welcome the fact that Deputy Ó Caoláin referred to the big issue of affordability, mainly because this is our primary concern as well. Our aim is to make our centres accessible but prohibitive costs come in the form of VAT and energy prices, which make it difficult for us to provide services. Many of our facilities are not profit-making organisations but they are certainly self-financing and the finances they make go back into providing the services. Legislators have the opportunity to remove these barriers and to provide our facilities free to people who are on the breadline. Currently our facilities provide free swimming to children under five years old. It used to be free for those under three years old but we increased the limit to five years to encourage families to come.

Society has created a significant problem by preventing our children from engaging in natural play because parents' primary concern is safety. As a society we need to find some way around this barrier, and it must be in a safe environment.