Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I join the Minister in congratulating Deputy Funchion. I wish her the best of luck.

I thank the Minister for the engagement so far. I support Deputy Sherlock's amendment. It is reasonable. Every one of us here is trying to ensure that childminding is done right everywhere. As I said to the Minister last week, people have a fear of Tusla coming into their houses. On top of that, the Minister referred to the Scottish report, which I have read. It said there were problems in the rural areas once the new legislation was brought in. Many people left the childminding sector, for one reason or another, and this created many problems. Under the regulations or whatever way it has to be done, I ask that the Minister give an exemption for up to three kids. As I said, my kids were reared with a person over the road and, God above, they minded them better than we would have done ourselves. They went with them everywhere; they were integrated into the family. If that person was doing that today, and they were going to be regulated, the fear of it would be one thing, as has been pointed out. In addition, these people are local individuals that you know and trust. I am asking the Minister to address this by means of the regulations. He has heard it from people and he should not have someone dictating to him within the Department trying to drive it so everything is going to be the same in childminding whether it is 500 kids or three children. If you pick someone up or down the road who you know, you will know them well and you will trust them. I do not want to see those people being basically forced out. I wish the Minister the best of luck with the leadership contest and everything, but it is in years to come that we will see the knock-on effects and the problems. It will be some parent who will not be able to go to work. There were no creches when my children were growing up, and if not for the good people we had near us who minded those kids neither I nor my wife could not have gone out to work. That is not the Ireland we want to set up. We want to give equal opportunity to everybody to be able to go to work. I ask the Minister to do that and I support the amendment.

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