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

First, as I mentioned, I have established an advisory group of people who represent the sector. I am working with the group and I expect that the scheme we are developing will effectively assist people and ensure we have many more providers signing up. Second, on the question of capacity, we have almost completed a survey that we will be sending out to providers and another survey to parents to assess the capacity and the potential for capacity. We will get that information in time for the coming phases and it will give us some sense of the demand. The Deputy may be aware, because I know she has been doing the research, that in other countries, when childcare services have reopened, the demand has been lower than anticipated because of the fear of parents for their children.

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