Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I do not want this controversy to distract the Minister from her intention of providing a second year of free child care in the next budget. We must examine the entire model, however, because effectively we are funding private companies to deliver a public service. Does the Minister not think it is time for the Department of Education and Skills to have a central role in this to roll out the Aistear and the Síolta programmes?

What we saw last night just would not happen in a primary school, as I know from being a primary school teacher and principal, because of the management structures that are in place. The parents who send their children to these centres want to know what will happen to the centres their children have been in where the incidents took place. Do they have a future and will they continue to receive State funding? Most people in the House would question whether the State should be funding such companies.

I do not want to wait for another RTE investigative programme to have a hidden camera in a direct provision centre in Ireland. If we are outraged about this situation in child care provision, as we should be, there are direct provision centres in this country that are also abusing children. We must not just look at the issues raised thanks to the RTE programme last night, but at the provision of State care for children across the State.

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