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

I acknowledge that the Department is engaging with services, but its budget is restricted in terms of what it can give them. Does the Minister accept that there must be a minimum ratio of adults to children in all services? Given the current number of children involved, community employment workers form part of that ratio. The Minister says that a service that takes in additional children in September because of the extension in free preschool years will get more resources, but those additional children will warrant the recruitment of extra staff, which means that the resources will not pay for current staff.

The €2,000 that is being given to certain services is not adequate. The €1 million pot is not adequate. At one stage, nine community employment workers formed part of Ballymahon's ratio. That number has dwindled month by month and the service is struggling. The Minister needs to revisit this matter with a view towards putting additional resources in the pot.

See this speech in context