Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

To the Minister, well done for doing so much work in two years. She has put the child and family agency together. Setting up a new child welfare structure is difficult.

I spoke in the Dáil Chamber yesterday. I was lucky because it was almost empty. Deputy Conway was present. My interest is in the preschool quality agenda. Television programmes have revealed how some children have been badly treated. However, there are thousands of good crèches and child care facilities. I visited a number of them in my former profession. The children there were engaged, not strapped to chairs. I want to reassure parents that there is good quality child care. I welcome the fact that the reports will be published online. If parents have concerns after checking them, they can approach the facilities' owners.

I was interested in the Minister's remarks about an inspectorate of crèches. Will they be qualified and will they inspect the same elements across facilities? An inspectorate worked when it was introduced into the primary school system. It made teachers work together on school development plans. This is probably what is required in the case of crèches. I will be optimistic and thank the Minister for her work.