Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will raise the issue of childcare provision and early childhood education. I acknowledge that there has been some progress in the past couple of years. There were some good announcements last week as well, which will take a small bit of pressure off. While I acknowledge some moderate progress, there is a whole lot more to do. The reason I mention this today is, at best, the Government has just one budget remaining in its lifetime and this Dáil only has one budget left so the window of opportunity to fix this problem is closing, and closing fast. While I appreciate the country has finite resources, the allocation of funding for childcare is not just a financial decision. There is also a moral component and a moral decision to it. Most people will accept that if women in this country had equal access the power, issues with childcare and early childhood education would have been solved decades ago. While other EU countries were putting in place very sophisticated infrastructure for early childhood education, our Constitution told us a woman's place was in the home. If that was not good enough, we bought in the marriage ban and doubled down on it. We have been chasing our tails ever since to try to get out of that hole we put ourselves in.

In retrospect, defining moments in a country's history can be identified when it pivots either for good or ill depending on the quality of the decision that was taken. A decision in 1966 in Ireland still rings true today. That was Donogh O'Malley's announcement of free secondary education. What we are asking for is a second Donogh O'Malley moment, not focusing on secondary education but focusing on early education. The reason for this is we are of the view that education for our citizens who are under five years of age is at least as important as for citizens who are over five years of age. Will the Taoiseach give any indication to the House as to whether he will fund early childhood education properly in the remaining term of this Government to provide for the country's future, to tackle the inequities of the present and, perhaps most importantly, to atone for the wrongs of the past?

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