Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I seek to adjourn the Dáil under Standing Order 32 to address the following matter of urgent national importance, namely, the need for the Minister of State responsible for children, Deputy Brendan Smith, to suspend immediately the introduction of the community child care subvention scheme pending an urgent review, in full consultation with the community and voluntary child care sector, in view of the threat posed to community and voluntary child care provision by this ill-conceived scheme; its potential to create a two-tier child care system mirroring our two-tier health care system, with one tier for children of people on social welfare and a second for others; the consequential steep rises in child care costs for many families; the prospect of the closure of many community child care facilities; and the immediate threat of loss of subvention to child care facilities that do not complete the complex application procedure by 2 November.

See this speech in context