Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her response. The crux of my question related to the programme for Government and the independent review the Department for Children and Youth Affairs was going to carry out. It was a follow-on from where Early Childhood Ireland was last year, a more in-depth review where it was doing the sums. Early Childhood Ireland did the sums last year and the Minister's Department was going to conduct an independent review which would cover the average unit cost, age, geography, community versus private, and bring it down to wages and the sustainability of the entire sector and the funding it would take to move on with the sector rather than it being funded by the parents. We need to make sure that we have a sustainable, affordable, integrated child care sector in the future. There is no point in ICT and legislation unless we know we can afford to do it and there is a sector there for the future.

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