Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

We certainly do. I hope that continues to be the commitment from the Department. However, it is not rhetorical to say - it goes to core of the issue - that what is happening here is we have a disjointed, privatised and fragmented childcare service in this country. We would not allow this to happen at primary or second level, but the care is a patchwork of various different types of service and capacity, essentially to deal with the private provision of childcare in this country. I recently visited my local childcare, Treasury Tots, in Ballyfermot. It applied for a grant to refurbish the building, but was initially refused. Treasury Tots has appealed the decision and hopes to win it, but the workers made the point to me that we need a fully funded and properly provided for early education service that is run by the State via these carers and their providers. They are wonderful workers and managers, but they are all the time reliant on a complex and fragmented system. Ultimately this is what we have to deal with.

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