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

I also welcome the funding allocated for non-contact time but it is critical that the independent review is conducted as urgently as possible. I fear that the sector might begin to contract if we do not have the right information because when people do their sums, they will look to see where they can make a living from this business. Whether they are a private operator or even a community operator, they will see where they can find their margins. The margins are in the ECCE and in the after school care. There is very little money to be made in minding babies with the ratio of 1: 3. That ratio has to be adhered to at all times but that is not what the issue is here. Rather they need the support to know there is a sustainable sector. They need to know in which direction it is going. My fear is that it is contracting. Deputy McConalogue told me recently that one of his constituents in Donegal has no full-day child care in his area for the simple reason that only ECCE or afterschool care is being provided. I welcome the review is going out to tender in August.

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