Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

My wife recently received a call from a childcare provider. We had put our son's name down on a waiting list for a childcare place around the time he was born. The problem is he is four tomorrow. That is the situation people are looking at. They could be waiting three or four years to get a call. Obviously it is not the same in every instance but the fact is that if people move to Cork tomorrow morning looking for a full-time childcare place, they would nearly be laughed out of it. The places are simply not there. Even part-time places are extremely difficult to come by and people could wait a very long time. That is before even getting to the cost, which is crippling families. It has been said so many times but it is true. It is a second mortgage or more than a mortgage for so many.

I have raised the next issue previously with the Minister and, in fairness, he has heard me out. What we are looking for is direct involvement from the Department. We have a particular problem in Cork regarding capacity. A number of providers have closed or face a change of ownership or potential closure. This is on top of the lack of places. I encourage the Minister and the Department to get directly involved in that. There are a couple of things this could involve. First, where there is a change of undertaking, I hope that Tusla will be able to facilitate the processing of that in the most expedient way possible and with the existing staff. I am also minded to mention the Before 5 centre, which is due to reopen.

I am sure the model we have is not where the Minister would like to start from but where we are starting from is what we have to deal with but I would not like to be in a situation where 15 years down the road, we are still relying heavily on subsidising the private model. We need a public system of childcare. It is vital that the State increases its footprint in this area. There is scope to do that in the context of Cork right now. There are public bodies that can help lead this. We need to look at this across the board to address the issues of supply and being able to plan. We need to be able to plan for demographic growth and where additional childcare will be needed. Ultimately, allowing the market to dictate it will not succeed.

What is also needed is sustainability. For far too long, people working in this sector have been treated poorly and have been working for poor wages. It is crucial that we get that right. Ultimately, this is a public good. It is not an optional extra for so many people. It is the lack of access to childcare and affordable childcare that leads to people leaving the workforce and being unable to return to it. It is a public good and it is high time that we treat it as that and invest in it accordingly.

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