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

I thank Deputy Costello for those excellent questions, some of which others also raised with me. One of the Deputy's primary questions relates to whether the Government recognises the stress that parents are under because of the double or triple-jobbing. This Minister does and my colleagues do too. We are particularly aware of it because the schools remain closed. School is where many children spend the majority of their time, and the others spend time in childcare centres. In general, most children spend more time in schools than in childcare centres. We are aware of the pressure that exists. We are all aware that one of the reasons for this measure is that it is the public health advice and is what we have all agreed to follow. We are now in the process of reopening society, which includes, effectively, our early years education and care and our school-age childcare and education, although we happen to be first. We understand.

On the question of what resources are available while we wait for this, my Department has done work in respect of supporting parents and in other areas. We have launched a website by means of which we offer free online resources to parents. More than 2,850 users have visited the site since its launch. There is an ongoing social media campaign that contains practical advice and support for parents. There is a whole-of-Government approach, Let's Play Ireland, that promotes the importance of play. There are lots of supports, including a web page and other online resources for parents. Certain aspects of some of our web pages offer support for parents who are working at home with very young children who have not been able to go to preschool. I assure Deputy Costello that generally we are aware of the issue, most people are parents themselves, and those are the kinds of supports that have been put in.

The pods plan, which was also raised by Deputy Aindrias Moynihan, was based on advice given to us by the public health expert. It is not something that I am saying, it is the public health expert saying that.

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