Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I thank everyone who contributed to this debate. I want to make clear that everyone accepts the principle of one year's pre-school. It is wrong that the Government is saying that we rubbished the proposal. It is the practicality of the proposal that Fine Gael is concerned with. If the Government wants to question our bona fides on this issue, it should go back to when we were last in power in the 1990s, when the first pre-schools in the country were established, particularly in disadvantaged areas. It is lamentable from our perspective that it has taken 12 years for further progress in the area and for that small but significant start to be built upon.

This is not visionary. Fine Gael and the Labour Party published proposals on pre-school education prior to the 2007 general election. This is not something we have come to as guests at the end of the night, it is something we have long held as policy and we welcome the fact that the Government has finally seen the light on the issue and is willing to admit that a year's pre-school is necessary. It is the way the Government is going about it that we question.

The speech the Minister of State, Deputy John Moloney, was given to deliver was more interesting than the one he made, which was not quite so contentious. He stated clearly last night, however, that our motion is about providing services with a higher profit margin because of operation in an area that previously tolerated higher fees. That was utterly disingenuous and is simply not the case. The motion is to ensure the commitment made can succeed, as it will not as currently constituted. The principle behind the Government's proposal enjoys widespread support but the practicality does not, in spite of the claims of the Minister of State. The fact that the Minister of State, Deputy Barry Andrews, is meeting a group that has more than 300 members, which was only established after the announcement, is proof of the concerns that exist. That group felt it necessary to come together to question some of what is being decided.

The Government attacked us for being concerned about the absence of information and consultation, yet we do not have any more information tonight than we had prior to putting down the motion. The notion of the Minister of State going to openings and calling them consultations is wrong. We all know what happens when a Minister visits a constituency - there is little real consultation going on and the photographs appear to be more important at these events. To say there is no absence of information and then tell us that there will be a census of pre-school services to get data on service provider levels is laughable because it would not be necessary if the information was available, and that is exactly the type of information needed to calculate costs and work out availability.

The Government speakers were more concerned about achieving consensus than having a discussion. Is there something wrong that the Opposition might try to ensure a scheme this important actually works? That is our job. Deputy Conlon might prefer if we left the Government to run the country on its own but that will not happen.

It is ironic to hear the Government question the Fine Gael figures when the figures in the Minister of State's initial statement were different from those used when Fianna Fáil Members questioned our figures last night. Likewise, on the early child care supplement, six Ministers, including the Taoiseach of the time, gave different figures about how much it would cost.

The motion was purely an attempt to tease out the issue and make it work for the benefit of children. It will not work if the providers cannot afford to participate. We have suggested changes, particularly the indexation of costs for rates, rents and wages. I ask the Minister to look at that because there is confusion in the Government about the issues of child care and preschool. Boasting about 65,000 child care places is not the same as preschool places. The fact that the Government is doing the census and has not given us a figure for preschool places makes me question what will happen. I ask the Minister to listen to the points made and take them on board. They are well meant. We want to see this work, but we do not see how it will work as constituted, and the Minister needs to have an open mind on it.

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