Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for that comprehensive reply. Fine Gael has done some research with parents recently. We surveyed 2,300 parents and childcare providers, most of whom were parents of very young children. The responses were really interesting because while 76% of them talked about the need for more affordability, when they talked about flexibility, including flexibility of hours, and a choice of different types of services, whether community-based or private, it really was choice that was important to them. As a subset of choice, location was absolutely crucial. The driving forces, therefore, were not only making childcare more affordable, which was really important to many people, but also, just as important, where to bring their children and the choice available in that regard. Does it have to be the three-day week, the five-day week or the drop-off? It was a matter of providing that total flexibility, which is even more important in a post-Covid environment in which people have more adapted working arrangements and may be able to collect children at a range of different and new times.

See this speech in context