Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I begin by remembering every soul lost to this virus, sending sympathies to their families, friends and communities, extending our solidarity to those who are sick at this time and wishing them a full recovery, and acknowledging the heroic efforts of workers on the front line, particularly within our health services. Today, as we are towards the tail end of Carer's Week, I particularly acknowledge the work of carers and home carers - people whose effort, very quietly carried out, has meant that people and families have some comfort and support in incredibly difficult circumstances. These are people to whom we all owe a huge debt of gratitude and I sincerely hope, as the crisis abates and as we move back into normality of some sort, that their efforts will be continuously acknowledged because often they believe that they are left behind and forgotten.

I have raised with the Taoiseach on a number of occasions the need for a plan for the provision of childcare. By a plan, I mean one that is workable, realistic and sustainable, a plan that meets the real world needs of children and parents, and a plan formulated through proper consultation with childcare professionals and experts. As we meet today, there is still considerable alarm and stress for parents. There is undoubted confusion, and some anger, within the childcare sector and I have to tell the Taoiseach that these will not have been changed or abated by the Government's disappointing announcement yesterday. The measures announced do not constitute a plan. They do not comprise a solution. At best, they might be described as a stopgap, a makeshift collection of short-term measures that inevitably lead parents and childcare providers back to the very same problems that we face today - those being a lack of investment, capacity problems, fees so high that they equate to a second mortgage and, of course, the precarious work and low pay of childcare workers. Despite all of yesterday's fanfare, the truth is that under the Government's childcare package many childcare providers will be forced to either close their doors come September or see a situation where parents face another hike in childcare fees. Families already struggle with the cost of childcare and I think we can all agree that another increase would be simply unbearable. Under the Government's plan, many childcare workers may be forced on to the dole. That is the reality and it is not fair. In fact, it is mind-boggling that the Government cannot seem to grasp that childcare is absolutely vital to our society and to the building of a modern economy. One cannot send thousands of people back to work without an answer to their childcare needs.

An hour ago, some of us stood with a large group of women outside the Dáil. These women came seeking the extension of maternity leave for three months. It is a common sense proposal. The mothers are concerned about the availability of childcare for their young babies. Many of them have not yet had the opportunity to introduce their new arrivals to their wider family circle and, indeed, to their grandparents. Maternity leave benefit must be extended for mothers whose claim expires in the course of this pandemic. That needs to be part of a plan and the Taoiseach needs to go back to the drawing board. He needs to bring forward a workable real plan that goes beyond September and one that will command the confidence of parents and childcare professionals alike.

Another area causing deep distress for many parents, as the Taoiseach has acknowledged, is the matter of educational provision for children with special needs. It is now two weeks until July, and still we have an ongoing lack of clarity regarding summer provision, which is quite astonishing. I am sure that, like me, many Deputies saw the report on RTÉ last week that featured parents at their wits' end trying to provide round-the-clock care to their children. They heartbreakingly described their children as forgotten and left behind. Too many families throughout the State are in this distressing situation. The development and progress of these children have been badly affected since school closures.

Cuireann siad síos ar a gcuid páistí amhail is go bhfuil dearmad déanta orthu agus go bhfuil siad fágtha ar gcúl. Fágadh an iomarca teaghlach tríd an Stát sa chás seo. Bhí drochthionchar ar fhorbairt agus ar dhul chun cinn na bpáistí seo ó dúnadh a gcuid scoileanna.

One parent in the report - Angelina Hynes - described the impact on her daughter, Zoe. She said Zoe bites her arm in frustration and eats her clothes. Her daughter no longer engages and is not the child she was nine weeks ago. She used to be able to spoon-feed herself, thanks to the hard work and dedication of her teachers, and that has now stopped entirely. These children, we all agree, need support, their specialised routines and expert care. The parents and children need the Government to act. There are concerns already, even before the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy McHugh, has announced his scheme, as to whether it will answer problems in respect of protocols and organised transport and there is a deep worry surrounding the issue of insurance.

I am at this stage genuinely concerned that the Government fails to grasp the enormous strain that parents and families are under. It seems that it is content to roll along, providing sticking plaster and half-baked fixes, while parents and families are left in limbo. Will the Taoiseach go back and bring forward a real plan, that is, one that in real terms allows childcare providers to reopen their doors, ensures the jobs of childcare workers and their incomes, and ensures that parents can access childcare at affordable rates? Will he provide within that plan for a three-month extension to maternity leave? Will he tell us that the scheme to be announced tomorrow for summer provision will answer the concerns about protocols, transport and the issue of insurance?

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