Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have to be sensitive to my Green Party colleague, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. He put meat on the table. We need to have the vision but we also need to put flesh on the bone. We need to follow through with resources. I also take the Deputy's point on the organisation of childcare. We need universal access to childcare and we need to make sure every child has access but I am conscious of how the sector has evolved in Ireland. There is a multiplicity of providers, all of whom jealously guarded their domain. We have to work within that framework but I take the Deputy's overall view. These are the most important years and we have to provide universality.

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