Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend my colleague, Deputy Funchion, on all the work she has done on this Bill. This Bill is of vital importance to society and will have a meaningful impact on the lives of a significant number of workers and their families. Year after year, the cost of childcare in Ireland is among the highest in the world. These sky-high prices are having a huge impact on young families and add stress, concern and worry. Moreover, on top of the high cost of childcare, families are seeing rents skyrocket. The chances of them becoming homeowners is diminishing and household bills are rising sharply.

We now live in a society in which those who wish to have children are being severely penalised as a result. Let us not forget that having children is necessary for the development of a healthy society. In Dublin, the cost of childcare for just one child is upwards of €1,000 per month, with many parents struggling to even find a place available to them. This enormous cost is not just having a detrimental impact on working families; it is also having a disproportionately negative impact on women and is preventing thousands of women from returning to employment and is reinforcing gender inequality.

Affordable childcare is not just an economic necessity, it is vital for improving the quality of life of working families, for getting people back into the workforce and for fostering a healthy development of society. Let us be clear that childcare needs to be affordable and accessible locally in the community. Community childcare such as that in the Ringsend community centre and St. Andrew's Resource Centre is what we need, namely, childcare rooted in the community.

Childcare is not just where one sends children for a few hours while their parents are out working. It is a place that is key to the development and growth of each child in respect of how to learn and how to interact with other children. That is a very important part of their formative years and it is vital it is done right. Thankfully, those working in Irish childcare are highly skilled professionals we are fortunate to have. It is essential they are treated as such, with pay and conditions that reflect the impact they have on so many young people.

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