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

I thank the Minister, Deputy Zappone, for her response. It is welcome to hear good work is going on behind the scenes. It is important as well to acknowledge that ICT at the very beginning, before the affordable child care scheme, was always under pressure within Departments. When we added extra Departments it of course put on extra pressure. The Minister has outlined certain timelines. However, the timeline regarding the delivery of ICT concerns me. If we do not have that timeline in place, while the legislation is working its way through, I cannot see how this will work seamlessly for the providers in September.

That also sets another red flag for me. I do not wish to be a doomsayer, but if it is not sorted out with a proper timeframe that would indicate to me it may not be ready for delivery in September 2019. When I think back, it was disappointing the pressure child care providers were already under in August 2017. The Minister did put in hours to support them in respect of time worked in their offices. However, it is nearly two years since the affordable child care scheme was launched and, unfortunately, I am still waiting to hear that it will be ready to go for September.

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