Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I want to ask the Minister about childcare and core funding. Parents with children in the Little Rainbows crèche in my constituency were told by the operator this summer that the operator was withdrawing from core funding and increasing its fees. The increased fees are simply not sustainable or affordable for many of the parents, forcing some of them to choose whether they can continue to afford to work. As the Minister knows, this is not an isolated case; this has been unfolding in similar situations across the country. There are no protections in place for parents and they have no right to appeal these decisions. Will the Minister and his Department engage with the operator in this instance to find a resolution that will work for parents and their children? What is the Department doing to tackle this?

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