Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Absolutely. Obviously, I was not in this position when it was commissioned, but I know just from talking to officials in the Department the huge amount of work that has gone into it. The work has been refined and strengthened as it has been undertaken. As I said in reply to a question the Deputy asked earlier, this comes in the context of other very significant research work my Department is undertaking. Sometimes people give out about reports being undertaken etc., and on one hand I can understand there is always a degree of scepticism in that regard. On the other hand, however, and as the Deputy herself knows, we are dealing with a sector that has been built on a very ad hocbasis over the past ten years after virtually no investment prior to that period. If this is to work, and if we are not going to just act in an ad hocway, I think it will be really important we have that sustained evidence base from which to work and to design that new vision for childcare.

See this speech in context