Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

Deputy Rabbitte is right to state that child care is a big issue. It is a big issue because 2 million people are working in our strong economy, which has grown over recent years. The number of women in the workforce has increased from 400,000 a decade ago to 800,000. It is estimated that approximately 220,000 people need child care facilities. The Government increased child benefit payments from €38 to €141 at the last budget. The overall child care budget increased from €500 million to €2 billion. Some €499 million has been invested under the equal opportunities child care programme to provide over 30,000 child care places. I accept child care is still a big issue that needs to be dealt with, however. The Government has examined all the child care reports. Deputy Rabbitte will not mind me saying that the Labour Party's child care document is very similar to the National Economic and Social Council's document on the same issue — it is almost word perfect.

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