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

I thank the Deputy. As she knows I have met with colleagues from her party on that comprehensive policy work that her party undertook. The issue of flexibility is of great importance and childminding is a very significantly flexible element of the early years sector. There is a very large number of people working in childminding. The parents who use those services cannot, for the most part, avail of the NCS, because the childminders are not registered with Tusla. We are beginning this process to bring a greater degree of regulation, recognising that childminders are not the same as centre-based carers. The regulation should be different but still has to be of a relevant standard. The educational qualifications are, equally, different but also have to be of a relevant standard. We need to encourage childminders not to see this as some sort of negative or imposition but to see it as a way of supporting them and the parents that they work with financially.

See this speech in context