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

It is helpful for one of our representatives to meet with parents specifically in respect of certain services that have closed. I thank the Deputy for her correspondence on the matter. The county and city childcare committees have been offering support to parents, especially in those areas. For example, the Dublin city childcare committee has received notice from more than 50 services declaring availability. The committee looked for other services that may have additional capacity. That list of services with availability has been circulated to the 32 parents who have made inquiries. The Fingal county childcare committee has contacted 110 full-day services to establish availability. A total of six parents have been in contact with the Fingal county childcare committee. The city and county childcare committees have been working with parents on a case-by-case basis to try to match places with requirements. They are engaged in other ways to support parents as well. That is only the city and county childcare committee but I can refer to other things going on in my final reply.

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