Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I turn to the area of child care and I wish the Minister, Deputy Zappone, very well. I hope she will not use the concept of a tax credit as a way of supporting child care. I know that is being floated. I am not sure which party floated it. I do not think that is a model that will work and I hope it is not the model the Minister will choose. We need investment directly in the services on the guarantee that savings are passed on to families. We also desperately need decent pay in the sector because child care has been neglected by this State for a long time. The Labour Party will be fully supportive. Our manifesto had a detailed proposal and we will fully support child care. I ask the Minister not to choose the tax break model because that is not the way to go.

How things are made often dictates how things work and I have a very real concern that in the face of every issue, every demand, every claim by an interest group, the same approach of buying off trouble one by one will take hold. We have seen evidence of it in recent days. This will have a serious impact on our capacity to take the mature, strategic decisions that are needed over the coming years. While we can buy political peace within and without government from week to week, the price may well be the vital policy goals of, for example, reducing primary class sizes, reducing child care costs for families or properly funding our mental health supports being put on the long finger.

I have very real fears about the viability, coherence and capacity of this governing arrangement. I wish no one, either a member or a supporter of the Government, any ill will. However, at a time when vision, courage and tenacity is needed within government, I fear we now have an Administration that will be crippled by procrastination, weakness and division.

I, along with my colleagues in the Labour Party, will offer constructive opposition. We mean that. Given the events earlier today, I for one have had enough of grandstanding, brinkmanship and spin. I look forward to moving on from that and advocating, supporting and advancing progressive policy choices that will make our country a fairer, more equal Republic for all its children.

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