Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

There was one issue raised that I want to tease out with the Taoiseach. It is welcome that we have just seen the details of the child care support scheme which was introduced in the budget by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Katherine Zappone. However, in the debate the two Ministers acknowledged that the Government had completely forgotten about the hundreds of thousands of parents who would not be able to avail of such a facility. They both committed on becoming Taoiseach to a reappraisal or change of strategy in order that we would start to recognise caring work as important. Will the Taoiseach indicate what discussions have taken place at the Cabinet and what plans there are to back up what the two Ministers indicated on Sunday? How do we stand up for the value and importance of parenting and all care choices? What changes and promised legislation can we expect to see in that regard?

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