Lorraine Clifford Lee (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister and other witnesses for attending. I have a couple of questions, which I will keep as brief as possible. I wish to return to what the Minister said about the targeted scheme not being fully ready by September. Does that mean people will not be able to avail of the targeted scheme if it is going to be dealt with manually? Will it be available on schedule in September?

I wish to raise the issue of vulnerable children in homeless accommodation. Ms McNally said exceptions will be made. Do children in emergency temporary accommodation have, as a right, access to the child care scheme? The Minister might confirm that. Alternatively, must it be approved later?

I raised Garda vetting with the Minister in the Seanad when the scheme was announced. She said extra resources would be allocated for Garda vetting to allow childminders who want to register with Tusla to do so in time for the scheme. Have those resources been allocated already?

On head 8 of the Bill, particularly in respect of the types of income that will be taken into account and the incomes listed in Schedule 2, I am disappointed that rental income and other income from land and property will be taken into account. I raised this with the Minister in the Seanad previously. This is probably an urban issue more than a rural one. Many families are in rented accommodation and their former family home, which is no longer suitable for them, is rented out. The rent is subject to the normal taxation and universal social charge regime. It is not actually earned income. I refer to the families caught in the middle who are struggling to make ends meet. They are renting out the former family home, which they cannot sell because it is in negative equity, and are renting another home for their expanding family. They will not be able to avail of the scheme fully. This seems nonsensical because these are the families the Minister has been trying to support through the scheme. I would like her to address the reasoning behind that. If a family has rented out the former family home and it is in negative equity, why is the rental income taken into account when assessing eligibility to participate on the scheme?

As with other Deputies and Senators, I have very grave concerns over the pay and conditions of people working in the child care industry. The pay and conditions have a negative impact on the children because there is a high turnover of staff. This primarily affects the workers. We really need to address this urgently.