Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

During the Covid crisis, there have been difficulties in the childcare sector. No doubt there are specific problems in various centres in getting and retaining staff, etc., but the characteristic that seems to have stood out in the past year is how our childcare sector, even in times of real difficulty when transmission rates were high, was still there providing a service. That was critically important to the families involved, to the parents but also to the State in that it allowed us to maintain some sort of service that we need, not only for critical workers but for all parents. My colleague, the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, has a central role in this. There is no shortage of commitment for us to review, improve and enhance our childcare services across a range of different models. The circumstances of every child and every family are different. We must provide for that multiplicity. I will pass the Deputy's comments to Deputy O'Gorman, who is committed to providing the necessary services.

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