Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The scale of what the Government is proposing, and what parents are demanding and what the sector deserves, is very significant. To see that type of growth and investment requires strategic cross-party thinking on this. I wrote to the Minister a couple of weeks ago proposing that we establish a special select time-bound committee, páistecare, which would perform a similar role to and take an approach like that of Sláintecare, to spell out the vision for the future of childcare and early education in Ireland. There is real merit to that in the context of what is going on from the Government side and the cross-party ideas about it. It would be an opportunity to listen to the sector and the key stakeholders and to report back on the future of childcare, certainly with regard to public provision. I again call on the Minister to take the opportunity for implementation of a committee like this. We could all see the benefits of that in the long run.

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