Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I take the points made by the Minister. It is the right of every person in this House to put forward amendments and the right of every other person to comment on the quality or otherwise of those amendments. There is a timescale in which to put forward amendments. If people think they can put forward a better amendment than this one, let them do so.

While I have the floor, I pay tribute to Deputy Funchion. She is an extremely good colleague. We are losing her to another forum. I extend my congratulations to her. I count her as a great friend and colleague, and she has been an excellent Chair of the committee. We have put through some very difficult legislation and we deal with very difficult subject matter. The Deputy has always dealt with matters in the most diplomatic and fair-minded way, so I want to pay tribute to her and congratulate her on her new role.

There is a situation I do not want to see. If I look at an early years inspectorate regulatory report, matters such as infection control are covered. I have a specific report in respect of a certain facility. I do not want to reveal its location. The report states that staff in both the baby and toddler nappy-changing rooms were observed wearing disposable gloves and aprons for each nappy change and that nappies were placed in nappy sacks and disposed of in sealed, lidded, pedal-operated bins. That is typical of a formal setting, but not a setting that is a home. In the context of the amendment, I would argue that sometimes one proposes an amendment on the basis one wants to make a political point and that is entirely legitimate as well. Again, I am just arguing for proportionality and common sense to be applied where there is a regulatory regime overseeing a home which is a private home. I do not want to see the disturbance of the dynamic and the trust that exists between a parent, a child and the childminder. We all know here what that brings to every community and the need that exists for it. However, I have decided I will not press the amendment because I note what the Minister has said. He has given us some words of comfort, which is all I wanted at this point. I felt the best way to do that would be to table an amendment.

The Minister has said he has met Childminding Ireland and that it has engaged with the departmental officials. I take that in good faith. I hope the making of regulations, subject to the changes the Minister has spoken about, would by its very nature be an iterative, ongoing process and that the regulations will not be written on tablets of stone and handed down. When they are handed down I hope Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, does not interpret those in a most officious way. I am hopeful, knowing the inspectorate and the people who operate it as I do, that they will be fair-minded in their approach.

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