Tom Neville (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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I congratulate the Chairman on his promotion to the chair and wish him well in his new position. I look forward to working with him. I welcome the Minister and her officials, and thank her for her presentation. These are the first steps in moving towards a new child care programme. We are looking at €466 million in spending in the child care which is represents an increase of approximately 80% on the 2015 spending. That is some achievement in only 24 months. There is more to be done but I want to recognise that. We are looking at a significant implementation project. We are looking at universal benefit for children under three years, and also a second support based on income.

On ICT and procurement and tendering, in a previous life I worked in IT. The Minister said that the gap analysis has been done and she is working on the functional requirements with a view to tendering in the third quarter of this year. When it comes to tendering in the third quarter, the Department will have made significant progress on the functional analysis. Can the Minister estimate how long the implementation phase will take? How long will the tendering process take? I assume that the portal will be a web portal that will be open for the public to make their applications on the IT system.

There is one thing I ask the Department to consider when it is undertaking its functional analysis. There is a problem I have seen many times in the public service. The language used in the applications process on the website and the calls for action must be as simplified as possible. Even a younger person whose linguistic skills are not fully developed should be able to understand it. It needs to be made as simple as possible for the public to understand it. Please be careful. We often use quite legalistic language in the Oireachtas and are used to it but the public is not. It is a failure in both the private and public sectors that the standard of language on web portals can be pitched too high for the consumers. The process and the calls to action should be simplified as much as is possible.

Sometimes genuine people apply for programmes and drop out halfway through if they find the application process too strenuous. It is a matter of being mindful of this. I seek an answer as to how long the implementation and tendering phases will take.