Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I too am very concerned about this issue. These providers came up here last week. They were forced to come up here. They did not want to be here either because they wanted to be looking after children and not inconveniencing the parents and families. When I questioned the Taoiseach about this, and the Minister was here himself when I did, he said it was only 5% of providers and dismissed them as irrelevant. The Government is so out of touch now across the board. As people have said, we do not have buses to bring kids to school, a simple stroke of the pen will not be utilised to allow those over 70 to drive if they are medically fit and the Government will also not deal with this issue concerning the new core model, which is failing badly.

I was delighted to be a founder member of Naíonra Chaisleáin Nua with Helen McGrath some 25 years ago. We recently celebrated a birthday. It is flourishing, thank God, and has great staff, a great team and a great board. This has been the case with successive boards. Almost 200 smaller providers, though, who invested themselves and took the gamble, built extra facilities, put in all the requisite standards and maintained them, and employed people, went out of business last year and this year so far. Will the Government wake up and smell the coffee? This is not working. A stakeholder forum is useless, toothless and fruitless, as I said. I ask the Minister to meet these providers, listen to them and engage with them. How could a Government become so out of touch in such a short time? It beggars belief. I do not know how it happens but the Government has got out of touch with everybody. It has the gardaí on strike and the barristers on strike. As I said, regarding the section 39 organisations, and all these people, the Government wants the whole place stopped.

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