Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We all support quality child care provision and no one is questioning that. Anybody who is in receipt of State support should be fully tax-compliant and should meet the standards set out by the Department. That is fact and taken as a given. What we saw last week, however, was more spin by this Government, aided and abetted by the Irish Independent as it is so capable of doing in recent years. The fact of the matter is that the current Government is four years in power. We do not need another committee or another report. We have report after report highlighting and confirming that child care costs in Ireland are now among the highest in the OECD. An average family with two children is paying 40% of its net income. We have produced suggestions and solutions if this Government was of a mind to support them. Every budget that is introduced involves political choices and in the last four budgets this Government introduced, it did not do anything to support affordable child care. When will this Government act to ensure that we will have quality, affordable child care for the tens of thousands of families out there that are crippled with the cost now?

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