Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

To start on a positive note, it was great to see the Minister in County Cavan last week for the second arts festival the county has had. Ms Kim McCafferty and the other volunteers were delighted about that. It was great to see the Minister taking an interest in that area.

In the context of the single affordable childcare scheme, it is likely that families receiving very low levels of subsidy may be worse off than they were prior to its introduction. Childcare costs are cripplingly high. The average household spends approximately 35% of its income on childcare costs alone. The average cost of a full-time early years place in Ireland is €167 per week per child and this rises to €214 in certain areas. It is a large amount and accounts for a major chunk out of parents' incomes. With the astronomical burdens on families in terms of the costs of housing, rent and electricity and other bills, how will low income families be able to cope with the cost of this scheme?

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