Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Funchion and the Sinn Féin team for bringing forward this motion. This motion will be welcomed by any young family facing the prospects of having to choose that one parent not to work and having to try to live on one wage due to cost of childcare. With the rising cost of heating, electricity, gas and fuel, people are already way overstretched.

We had Senan 17 years ago. He is nearly 18. We were paying the guts of €1,000 at that time. It still has not changed. In fact, it has gotten much worse. It is horrific to think that nearly 18 years later, families are in exactly the same position as we were. They have to pay the equivalent of another mortgage or one person does not go back to work. Those are choices people should not have to make.

A genuine cut in childcare costs will cost an additional €267 million in public investment for the childcare sector. This is an important investment into our children's future. Along with this, it would give working families a genuine break and take the pressure and stress off couples who genuinely just want to live, work, pay their taxes and care for their families. These are people who Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have let down now for many years. Unfortunately, this Government is continuing to let them down.

I am incredulous when I hear the Government coming out with lines like, “We can only do so much about the cost of living”. Yes, there is only so much that can be done, but the Government does not have the political will to do the right thing. Instead, this Government tends to look after investors and big businesses while family struggle day in, day out to make ends meet. We need only look at the massive profits made particularly by the energy companies over the last couple of years to see that those companies are not being challenged, but ordinary people are.

Here is a perfect example of where the Government can do the right thing. It can back this motion and not stop it. It should commit to seeing it through. The Government must also guarantee its commitment to increasing wages and to improving conditions for staff. It is time to step up and to help all those who are involved in this sector, including parents, carers, workers and children.

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