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

I take the Deputy's point. As he can appreciate, I felt it was important to identify the ways in which we are responding and supporting Irish-medium childcare settings, as well as Irish-speaking parents who want to see Irish being utilised in the development of the national childcare scheme. That is important and more needs to be done in light of the various action plans that have come out, including the most recent report from the Joint Committee on Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Islands. Those are my first points.

I accept what the Deputy is arguing for and I agree with him on the helpfulness and importance of opportunities for children in all childcare settings, not only Irish-medium ones, especially in early years. A number of recommendations in the recent committee report to which I referred also highlight that. My Department will work with an interdepartmental working group in order to decide how to support those recommendations.

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