Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In regard to the Deputy's earlier remarks, we all need to be very careful and responsible in how we use international comparative data relating to Covid. We all need to take the information we see on websites like Worldometer for what it is, which is not a like-for-like comparison between countries. Every county is at a different stage in this pandemic. Things look very different in Israel and Portugal today from how they looked a few months ago, and the same applies in other parts of the world. Countries that thought they had eliminated the virus, such as New Zealand, are now seeing new cases every single day. Different countries also count the numbers differently. One thing we always did in Ireland, from day one, was to count cases in care homes. Other countries did not do that. We counted suspected cases where there was not a laboratory test confirming the patient had Covid. Other countries did not do that. We did not discount people who had underlying conditions, as other countries did. If somebody with stage 4 cancer in a nursing home was suspected of having Covid but did not test positive for it, we included him or her in the total. Other countries did not include such cases. We need to be responsible in the way we use language and these types of data. It is not responsible to misuse data.

On the issue of childcare, we are all aware that childcare facilities often close in the summer period of July and August and things are different from how they are in September and October. We want to make sure the sector is fully up and running for September and October in order to meet demand. Data are being collected on reopenings and that information will be available for the period from Tuesday, 7 July, with a weekly update until early September. In a normal year, approximately 40% of childcare providers close over the summer. A total of 60% of the existing services have indicated that they will be reopening by September, and this portion may rise. The Government has provided a reopening package of €75 million, which is being made available through the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, and other Government supports for the sector are running through June, July and August. Since reopening, 1,000 services have registered 11,876 children on the Department-funded programmes, and registrations remain open until the end of the programme year. There have been 717 applications for a reopening support payment, with an approximate value of €3 million. In addition, there have been applications for capital grants totalling €7 million.

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