Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I know Pobal is the overall administrator. That is fine. It is like the grant applications at present. Naíonra Chaisleáin Nua and many others were unsuccessful in their grant applications and ended up phoning or contacting their elected representatives. Pobal is fine but it is not on the ground. Pobal is not managing the day-to-day running of the crèches and does not have to make those hard decisions at the coal face. It is fine to talk about Pobal but in respect of the manager who may be working and a childminder in the scheme who might not be fortunate enough to be big enough to be a manager, who is dealing with the parents? If a person is dealing with two parents who might not be in agreement, the person will be waiting a while before they get somebody in Pobal to come in and adjudicate on that sensitive and delicate issue. It is grand on paper but there are physical mechanics, the working out of it, the human story behind it and difficulties. The primary objective of the childcare provider and the staff is to give proper, nurturing, safe and loving care to the children in their care but there are disputes and issues and there might be other implications relating to taxation and other benefits parents may be claiming. A wider issue can come into play and lead to very bitter disputes. It is fine to talk about Pobal but who are the line managers in Pobal who will be at hand or available to come and assist in arbitrating? We must remember that all of these community childcare facilities are run by voluntary boards. If the manager has an issue like that and it has to come down on one side or the other, the board is ultimately responsible and it is a voluntary board. I found in the past that Pobal is fine from nine to five but it is not there for board meetings late in the evening or for volunteers who cannot meet during the day. The machinations and mechanics of working through the system are not as simple as they appear in the Bill or the amendments.

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