Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

The measure of a country is how it values its vulnerable. This can be ascertained by how we treat the people who look after the most vulnerable. Older people in nursing homes have been treated abysmally during the lockdown. They have been treated as an afterthought. When decisions were made, they had disastrous consequences for them. As a result, Ireland has one of the highest rates of nursing home deaths in the world. Despite this, there has absolutely no commitment to a full public investigation from this new Government. Pubs and restaurants are open for business but community facilities for people with disabilities are not open. As a result of the lack of direction on social distancing, many people with disabilities who have been at home since March are unlikely to be able to use services until the end of August at the earliest.

The childcare sector, which is charged with the development and care of the next generation of Irish people, is in chaos. This sector has been under phenomenal pressure in recent years, with tens of thousands of people having to take to the streets. Shockingly, I have received information from the sector which indicates that 180 providers have closed their doors since the start of the pandemic. As many as 10% of childcare providers have shut down due to the lack of support. These closures are accelerating. In the past week alone it has been reported that 55 childcare providers have closed.

My office spoke to two providers on the telephone yesterday and in the time between those two calls, another three providers had closed. I was told this morning that seven childcare providers in Dublin have closed in the past 24 hours.

The childcare sector is dying on its feet, yet the Government is sitting on its hands. I have spoken to representatives of the Federation of Early Childhood Providers and they are not just charging the Department of Children and Youth Affairs with wilful neglect of the sector; they are accusing it of gross mistreatment of childcare providers. The federation informed me that it has set up a mental health team with two doctors to deal with the level of trauma and upset that has been caused to its members by the Department and the Minister. I am asking the Tánaiste to intervene urgently to ensure childcare services have the necessary supports, that we do not see further closures of these services in the coming weeks, and to make sure there is a service for parents in the second half of the year.

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