Mr. Gordon Jeyes:

I accept the RTE programme has engendered a sense of urgency. I would like to have in place annual standards and quality reporting, and in this regard I have commissioned such in this area. I need to look at the range of provision and whether particular issues or areas for development are associated with particular types of provision. It would appear from the programme that a number of the crèches had a number of things in common, including that many young children were there for lengthy periods. I do not want to hypothesise but will comment when I can provide more detailed evidence to the committee.