Erin McGreehan (Louth, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I would like to ask about a slightly different matter, namely, childcare provision. There are huge difficulties in the area, as the Taoiseach knows, and services are struggling with staff attrition, burn-out, compliance and regulations, while dealing with the impact of the many pay freezes and the introduction of the new childcare programme that may reduce their capacity to serve children in the long run. Services are at risk of losing their reputations. They are cutting costs and staff and I often find when I deal with childcare services that they are afraid it is to the detriment of what they are there to do, which is to look after children to the best of their ability and make sure those children are educated, cared for and have a good time in childcare.

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