Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. I could speak at length about the various things we have done in the early years sector. When I became Minister, my priorities were cutting the cost of childcare for parents, ensuring childcare professionals are better paid and improving the sustainability of childcare providers. We have done a significant amount in all three of those areas, while recognising there are still challenges. However, making the improvements there took a lot of time. I will be honest with the Deputy, I asked my team in the Department in the early years to prioritise those three areas. When I talk to parents now, they say their challenge is capacity and finding spaces, so that is where I see the big challenge now. We have a team working on this. It is important and something we want to advance but there are very immediate challenges for parents, childcare providers and childcare professionals. I believe we picked the right priorities while at the same time advancing those longer-term reforms as well.

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