Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the marginal increase in the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown area, but we have to reflect on the fact that this sector is very diverse. There is no one size fits all. I say that as someone who has kids in the sector and a wife who has been a Montessori teacher for more than a decade, usually with small independent providers. There are many issues at play with the one-size-fits-all model. General costs in Dublin are different from those in the rest of the country. We have spoken at length this morning about rising costs in respect of utilities and everything else. I have a major concern, however, that when we do not have maximum buy-in and when services are not specifically located and targeted where there is such a lack of buy-in, it takes an element of the goodness away from what the Minister has said is an amazing achievement, that is, this massive increase in funding that is so long overdue and welcome. However, it is proving very difficult in my constituency. I have dealt with providers and parents and talked to the children who go to these services. When there is this lack of joined-up thinking, sadly, it just undermines what is a wonderful initiative by the Minister and the Government.

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