Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. He rightly pointed out that this measure was in response to Covid-19 and, importantly, it kept people working in the sector and provided jobs and income. At a higher level, we need to demonstrate how we value childcare in that whole sector before primary school. They do immense work in educating our young children and preparing them for national school. During Covid, we have been haemorrhaging staff from the sector. When that happens, women in particular are challenged and it creates further barriers for them taking up the positions the Minister talked about and being able to go back to work and take up roles outside the home. I welcome what the Minister has said and in his conversations and discussions with the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, I ask him to take that formal step when it comes to early childcare providers.

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