Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. That movement towards fair pay for the work being performed in these childcare settings is really important. We know one of the real issues is the retention of staff and a lot of that relates to pay grades and people moving on to some place where they can essentially afford their mortgage or whatever it is in their next stage.

Where do the gaps still persist? The core funding model has been successful and 90% of services have opted into it. Is there an analysis of the characteristics of those who chose to stay outside it? For example, does it reach the very small, rural childcare provider? Is that one of the issues that needs to address? Does it reach the larger services? Will the Minister outline the gaps in provision that persist and where the model needs to be tweaked to reach those services?

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