Ms Bernadette Orbinski Burke:

I apologise for not being able to respond a few minutes ago. I had a bit of Internet trouble. I thank Deputy Dillon for his question, which I really appreciate. He asked about constraints on the work of Childminding Ireland. We are completely under-resourced. We have one full-time and four part-time members of stuff. We engage regularly, at least weekly, with 4,000 childminding contacts. Our staff are highly skilled, dedicated, passionate about childminding and very overworked.

Staff include former childminders. It is very difficult even in terms of attending meetings. It is outrageous, especially during this time of change in the childminding sector, that the national association of childminding, which is the authentic voice of childminding in the sector, is completely under-resourced. We need additional funding to able to support childminders properly. I thank the Deputy for his question.