Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We definitely could keep on going because it is right that we should keep talking about this. It has to be restated that the Minister's statement here today is shocking. I fully support the motion and it is right that it is brought forward in response to the NWCI and the very good campaign it has run. Like my colleague, I pay tribute to Deputy Bríd Smith and the work she did in highlighting this issue during the interim period when there was no Government. It is vitally important and is the least we could do. A way should be found to make it happen and there should not be a need for a motion to be brought into the House tonight to make it work.

I think the Minister's response to the motion is appalling. I am sorry the Minister is not here to hear this. The Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue, will probably sum up and I hope his contribution is better because this is appalling. It is an insult to women and all citizens in the State to say that it is too complicated and difficult to help young mothers in this situation and too complicated to draft legislation that will provide for this. We have sat through legislation here on every aspect of the Covid response that has been very complex and detailed, as has been mentioned by other speakers. It has involved finetuning and giving money to businesses to ensure they survive but we are told by the Minister that this is too complicated to deal with. It shows, unfortunately, an aspect this Government will have over the coming months and years, in that it will be looking after small business and the citizens can go to hell unless they work for or own a small business and then this Government will be happy to do whatever it can to make sure they will be okay.

This motion seeks an extension to maternity leave to acknowledge the difficulties that women are having and have had in dealing with childcare needs through this Covid-19 crisis. Covid-19 has shown that the State is very important. The very people we are bending over backwards and aiming to bankrupt ourselves for to make sure they survive are businesses, both large and small, across the State. These are the very same businesspeople who would be leading the charge and saying the State should opt out and not have any role in their business. Who do they look for to bail them out as soon as things get rough? They come back to the State and the State has to do it. It shows the State is vital and has a huge role to play.

That brings us back to the issue of childcare and the fact that childcare is not available for women that need it. That is because of the model of childcare we have in the State, fostered by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and developed more than 20 years or so. It is basically a private model. We have many childcare workers with degrees working for minimum wage or less. It is a unique model across Europe as can be seen from the document here from the Library and Research Service. We need to move away from that model. It needs to be outlined over the next couple of years how that will happen. This Government is not going to do that. The least it could do is give women some modicum of support at this time but, unfortunately, it will not do that either.

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