Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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The surpluses and underspends in the Department stun me greatly as this is a massively underfunded sector. The average cost to parents in a commuter county such as my own are €1,000 per month, which is the cost of a mortgage. A surplus of €48 million was surrendered in 2016 and it was €59 million in 2017. This sector has been on the front pages of the newspapers recently. For example, a headline in the Irish Independenta couple of weeks ago referred to a projected €50 million black hole in the Government's new childcare scheme. As the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Katherine Zappone, stated, "To cut to the chase an additional €50 million would be needed to deliver the first full year of our new scheme in 2020. This is just the bottom line." How are we squaring the circle here? There were returns of surpluses of €59 million in 2017 but the Minister is looking at a €50 million black hole for 2020. Has that €50 million been secured?