Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to see the level of funding being allocated by the Department. I commend the Minister, his officials and the Government on the level of attention paid to this crucial area. The national childcare scheme has been a game changer for hundreds of thousands of people, which is tremendous, but there are some constraints, particularly in large urban settings where childcare places are difficult to come by.

There is also the cost. I know the Minister spends much time, as I do in a neighbouring constituency, dealing with families who effectively make a second mortgage payment for their childcare needs. I commend the funding coming in to reduce that cost by over €1,000 in the calendar year, which is fantastic news, but we have to have a conversation.

Points have been made on vacant childcare facilities and those that have never been built in housing estates, including in the Minister's constituency and mine - indeed, in my own housing estate in Malahide. We also need to ensure the national childcare scheme is working as best it can to keep providers within it and grow the number of providers coming into it. That is crucial.

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