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

The Deputy is incorrect in saying so many childcare providers are leaving the system. We saw an increase in the overall provision of childcare providers last year and we saw the lowest number of them leaving the system than in the previous five years. Second, the number of children who benefit from the NCS has doubled during my term of office. That does not suggest that parents are unhappy with the system. That suggests that parents recognise the very significant investment the State is putting into the system. I recognise there is an administrative burden on childcare providers and that is why earlier this year I set out very clearly that we are putting an action plan in place to reduce administration. We are bringing in the representative groups of the childcare providers, sitting them down with Pobal and the Department and setting out an action plan on how we can streamline administration to make it easier. Some of those steps have already been implemented.

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