Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. It remains the Government's objective to reduce the cost of childcare by 50%. We set that out some time ago. We are halfway there already. We also need to invest in capacity because we also need to ensure there are more places available. We also need to invest in quality, and that includes better pay for staff, which of course has to be funded, at least in part, by the public purse.

Exactly how much we can dedicate to each of these three objectives has to be negotiated between now and budget day with the involvement of the concerned Ministers. It would be useful to know, and I appreciate Deputy McDonald might not be able to answer now but perhaps she could at a later date, as to whether Sinn Féin supports this action. Only about 5% or less of the providers in the sector are taking part. Does Sinn Féin think more should? Would the party like to see more parents inconvenienced-----

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