Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will accept an apology any day from Deputy Connolly.

I want to bring the Minister back to practicalities. I have been meeting parents in Limerick. Ironically, while access to childcare is certainly having a huge impact on front-line workers, for many of parents who are not able to work because of Covid-19, their children are at home and so their demand for childcare is not as it would normally be. It will be shortly. There is a road map for reopening different sectors. As that happens, parents will require childcare services. What level of due diligence and comprehensive planning is the Minister doing to dovetail the reopening of facilities in line with the road map and the reopening of businesses, taking into account social distancing, which is the key element in the context of how we now operate? We must prepare for this as a matter of urgency. The Minister stated that she had three meetings in the past week. We are aware from parents of the pressures they are under. As we try to reopen the economy, we want people to be able to get back to work and they must have adequate childcare services available to them. Perhaps the Minister will provide an idea of the time frame in this regard, the type of due diligence she is carrying out to ensure that it is robust and her interaction with the various stakeholders. This is a matter of serious concern for parents in Limerick and north Tipperary. I want the measures to be pre-emptive rather than reactive. Will the Minister please give me an idea of the position in that regard immediately?

The Minister might respond to that within my time.

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