Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I accept many of the points the Deputy has made. I know how important the childcare sector is in supporting parents to go back to work and giving young children the support they need at the start of their life. I repeat what I said to Deputy Niamh Smyth. She made the case for a whole-of-government approach. I cannot give any better example of such an approach than saying that the childcare sector will continue to be in the EWSS, regardless of how an individual provider performs. Access to this scheme has been one of the most raised issues over the era of the pandemic. Deputies are aware of the debates we have had regarding whether sectors should be able to come into schemes, how long they should stay in schemes and what support they get. The childcare sector is the only sector where, regardless of the performance of an individual provider, the provider stays in the scheme until the end of April.

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