Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I pay tribute to all three organisations for the work they do. They have already done research on the cost of provision. I accept the Chairman does not want us to stray into that area.

Ms Heeney raised an issue, unscripted, on what we found out earlier this morning. I am not sure whether the other two groups had an opportunity to follow the questioning of the Department and Pobal this morning on the issue of whether the IT systems will function appropriately for the targeted element of the new scheme. I find that alarming and I know providers will find it very alarming, as will parents. Is it possible that the universal element of the scheme will be rolled out? I know there is a transition for people who can stay on the older schemes if they are more beneficial. I would welcome the views of witnesses on the issue of which we have only become aware this morning. We will be dealing with the legislation as it moves forward and wish to reflect the views of people involved in the sector in terms of the capacity of the scheme in September and whether there should be some modification of that.

The other piece of information we teased out this morning relates to people not being able to access the scheme when the money runs out. I seek the witnesses' view on that issue. While the Chairman indicated that we are not to talk about the general problem of people working in the sector, there are elements of this scheme that touch on it. I quoted from the presentation of the ACP to the Department and Pobal this morning about the fear of zero-hours contracts and I was given an explanation by a departmental official. I am not sure whether the witnesses heard the response but it was said that it was just about facilitating parents who need afternoon sessions, for example. I would welcome more elaboration from the witnesses about their concerns that the scheme could lead to zero-hours contracts because none of us would wish to see that happen.

In terms of the child care committees, Mr. Waters spoke about dealing with the capacity of the system and that part of their work is to advise the Government and the Department on the capacity of the system in different parts of the country. I would welcome any comments he might have on his assessment of the capacity of the system to deal with the new scheme.