Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am the special rapporteur for the preparation of an all-party Oireachtas Committee report on child care. During the course of that research we were told that for those who are willing and hopeful to upskill, there is simply no incentive to stay as there are no employment benefits.

Does the Minister agree that the economics of child care have long been skewed? Amid an absence of sufficient Government subsidies, child care providers are being forced to survive partly by keeping their labour costs dangerously low, driving trained, educated, skilled people to abandon the field? Does the Minister also agree that without a significant increase in Government investment, quality will be compromised? Does he have plans to increase the subsidisation of child care providers so they can better invest in their services and workers? The child care crisis is not only one of cost, but also a quality crisis. Does the Minister believe that both are inextricably linked?

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