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

As the Deputy says, the issues are affordability for parents, sustainability for services and fair pay and conditions for staff. All that coming together will deliver quality for children, which is what we are trying to achieve. Whether the children are from the most disadvantaged backgrounds or not, quality for children is absolutely essential. We all recognise that this will require very significant increased investment. It will involve not just this Government; it will be a long-term project because we are so far behind other countries across Europe in the amount of investment we put in. Regarding that additional public investment, we must have public management as well, whether it is the JLC as one example or whether there are other examples we can bring forward to ensure the additional money we are putting in is giving us those really important outcomes and, most important of all, enhanced quality for children and babies.

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