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

I thank the Minister. The 7% increase which is well intentioned is very welcome and should be passed on to workers. It is a step in the right direction. I am concerned as there are many managers of crèches who, in some cases, may not have taken salaries for a number of weeks. They need to look after themselves. Is this one of the other ways to address the fact that community employment scheme workers were a crutch in the community sector? Is this a way to appease community sector crèches as it might afford them the opportunity to take on the additional staff members required? There has been a major burden on the community sector since last December, close to Christmas, when the changes came about. Is the 7% increase a step towards further announcements in the budgets ahead?

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