Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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It is not just that they do not pay. The other issue is that providers have great difficulty in recruiting staff because they cannot pay them enough. The staff they are recruiting are at a level when they are not taken on as full-time employees. They have no pension entitlements. They could get a job in Tesco, for example, that would serve them better in every regard. This is where we are at with childcare. Staffing retention and recruitment is at a critical stage. The Department says there are improvements but they are on one level only.

All of this was forewarned to the Minister in Dáil debates. He was told that what happened in nursing home provision would happen in the childcare system. Providers will just close because it is no longer affordable. They cannot make money. They cannot get staff. Therefore, they cannot meet the regulatory requirements and they are mandated to close. All of this needs to be considered.

I urge the Secretary General to undertake a review. He is not aware of the facility I mentioned. I am aware from childcare advocates that, based on the figures they hold, as lobbyists or representative organisations, the Department's figures do not hold water. Their figures and the figures of the Department are completely at odds with regard to closures. We are discussing 2022. We need to update ourselves readily into 2024 when it comes to the provision of childcare.