Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I would like to again raise with the Taoiseach the issue of early childhood care and education, ECCE-only providers. I commend the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O’Gorman, and the Government on their interventions up to now and for the record levels of investment by the State. That said, there is still an anomaly in ECCE-only providers. Fees remain frozen, which is a good thing for parents, but capitation fees also remain frozen. More and more ECCE providers are closing or are signalling that they intend to close in the coming months. The childcare providers are broadly supportive of the State’s investment in childcare, which I previously mentioned, but the anomaly of ECCE-only providers needs to be addressed urgently.

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