Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

He should be incentivising and using a carrot and stick approach.

The vacant site levy should have been brought forward. The Minister should reform the fair deal scheme because it currently disincentivises people who go into nursing homes from letting their properties. This could be dealt with at the stroke of a pen. The Minister should be reintroducing the financial contribution scheme for older people. These are all steps that would make a real difference regarding housing supply. Unfortunately, the Minister has failed in this regard.

I welcome any additional funding provided for child care but I object to the fact the Government is prioritising one group of parents over another. All best practice indicates that public policy should support parents in minding their own children at home, at least for the first 12 months. Currently, there is an entitlement to parental leave of just over six months. It is by far the lowest entitlement among all EU states. The priority should have been to extend that to a 12-month period.

Parents make choices about how to look after their children. Some parents want to step out of the workforce and, in doing so, they forgo an income. Other parents decide to continue in their job and use centre-based care. Other parents use relatives. The Government should be respecting the choices of parents. It is not doing so and it is favouring one group over another. Therefore, it is discriminating against parents who take the decision, in the best interest of their families, to stay at home and take time out of the workforce during the early, important years. Unfortunately, the Government is not doing as I suggest, which is a big mistake. The majority of people who choose to use child care other than centre-based care, be it parental care or relation care, are not being assisted whatsoever under this measure.

On the area of health, unfortunately we have missed the opportunity to make the vital switch away from expensive acute care to community care. That is particularly the case in regard to older people. The provision for home care packages will not even meet half the existing demand, let alone the increased demand that will come about by way of demographic pressures. That is a missed opportunity. The Government should have tackled this. Rather than spreading the goodies around so thinly, it should have done something significant in the housing area and health area. With regard to child care, the Government should have respected all parents' wishes.

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