Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

Maybe we could do question and answer, if we get to it. I will pick up where the Minister left off. I agree that we should have free provision of childcare as a public service. We need to develop a national childcare service in this country, and it can be done. The question is, is now not the time to do it? Our so-called normal model of childcare was a failure. It was a failure for families who were spending, on average, one fifth of their income on childcare, which was one of the highest in Europe. It was definitely a failure for workers who were not getting even the €15 per hour the Minister has spoken of, which would be a big improvement for many, but were on barely over €10 per hour, part-time contracts, casual work and so on. It was also a failure for many small crèche owners who were faced with a crisis in insurance costs and everything else. The Minister said earlier that the State was already paying 60% of the total costs. Now the State will pay more than ever. Is now not the time to seize the moment and say goodbye to that privatised model of childcare and instead to begin to build that sort of national childcare service today?

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