Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish we could to that. What we can do is call for it and encourage childcare providers, who generally do an excellent job in providing quality childcare places across the country, to do so. Decisions on prioritising full day places and guaranteeing places for a second ECCE year are primarily matters for the service providers who are free to set their policies in these areas. The Department actively seeks to ensure there is sufficient capacity available to allow service providers the latitude to accommodate all children. We are in constant contact with the providers, not only through the county and city childcare committees but also directly in the different ways we gather the stakeholders together. The Deputy raises important points. We have allocated and invested capital and we are in consultation with providers. The Deputy cited some statistics and if she identifies further gaps, I ask that she bring them to our attention. The Department, working with county and city childcare providers, wants to ensure there are no gaps at local level and we will do what is necessary to fill them when they arise.

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