Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

It is a diverse sector and we want to continue that diversity. That is why we are looking to put the ECCE programme on a statutory basis. That way there will continue to be a strong role for ECCE-only providers because that is what some parents want.

In respect of the slightly lower sign-up rate in the Deputy's area, and indeed in my area, ultimately, many of the providers remain in the private sector and they make a determination as to whether they contract with us. We are not going with a takeover model. We are allowing them to make their own determinations. I believe we have made core funding as attractive as possible. It will mean services will get significantly more investment this year than last year.

There are, however, some conditions and I will stand over those conditions absolutely. We need the fee freeze and we need transparency. We are putting €1 billion into this sector. We need to understand the books, we need to understand how that is actually delivering for services, and we need the fee freeze because, without it, the additional money we are putting into the NCS will be eroded by subsequent fee increases.

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