Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

The Ceann Comhairle must be pleased to see that the equal opportunities childcare programme, which he introduced some years ago as Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, has been acclaimed on all sides of the House. I have been in the House many times when people on the Opposition were less fulsome in their praise of that programme. I am glad that they now realise its value and the great contribution it has made. The programme was an outstanding success and exceeded its target for the provision of child care places by 18%.

There has been misrepresentation and many genuine concerns were expressed, which I appreciate. I am out and about like everybody else and not just in my counties of Cavan and Monaghan. I will not hide behind officials as some people in the House indicate we should when we make decisions. I do not do that, I stand up for myself and do my best.

People legitimately ask about consultation. There was consultation. Questionnaires were circulated to all the county child care committees as part of the value for money review. There was also verbal contact with some groups. Others participated in a working group which represented national bodies. When we announced this scheme last July I indicated that we would have a transition period of 12 months because we could foresee that there might be some difficulties. In my initial responses to the media I said that we wanted to get as much data as possible on the existing staffing scheme. Some Deputies said tonight that groups did not know they had to introduce a tiered payment system. They did know that. It was one of the conditions for a staffing grant.

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