Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The broader point is that childcare has evolved quite significantly over recent decades in Ireland whereby we have many community-based and private childcare services, and some State childcare services, albeit in the minority. The taxpayer funds many of the services to get the fees down for parents, which we have done to a significant extent in recent years, to support staff and to create better career pathways and better JLCs. It is not as simple as just creating a new public system overnight.

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