Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Sinn Féin sincerely for bringing this very important motion before the House. I think of all of the excellent childcare providers in County Kerry, including the excellent management and staff of Little Acorns in the village of Kilgarvan. I think of all of the people I have worked with over many years in different parts of Kerry, trying to help them to set up businesses which are so important in our localities. For parents, particularly young parents starting out, to have affordable, nearby, accessible and safe childcare facilities is so important. In terms of the workings of our country and to allow parents to have the opportunity to go to work, it is so important that people are able to provide the service, run their business, pay their staff, pay for the accommodation and insurance. As Deputy Mattie McGrath said, small business is so important. I will not call childcare a business because of the professionalism and care that is involved. The most important function that any person could ever have is minding somebody else's child. It is everyone's nightmare that something would go wrong when one is minding somebody else's child which is why those people are so important in our communities.

Again, I thank the people in Kerry but they have been coming to me with concerns. Small providers in particular are worried that the core funding system will not help their businesses. Instead, it will be detrimental to them. We want to ensure that the businesses, whether they are large, medium or small scale providers of childcare, are enhanced, allowed to grow and exist and can continue to do that terribly important job of minding other people's children and ensuring they are safe and protected, thus allowing the parents to go to work, at an affordable cost.

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