Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I take it from the Minister's response that those childcare providers I referred to will have the full information by March. I welcome that he expects the JLC process to be complete by then and that the Department will have published the breakdown of how this process will work in future.

The next point, then, concerns those people working today in stressful conditions, because childcare facilities are probably one of the last remaining areas where Covid-19 is still having an impact on staff and children. I refer as well to the control mechanisms that must be in place. I am talking, therefore, about people working in stressful conditions and who are also highly qualified, as the Minister acknowledged. These people need certainty. Equally, parents need to know what measures are going to be in place to reduce the substantial childcare costs borne by them day to day and week to week. Will they also have an assurance that by September they can expect to see their fees being reduced?

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