Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

While I welcome the Pobal scheme, 78 applications is not a lot and 78 additional childcare facilities, or not even childcare facilities, is not sufficient for the demand we have in Ireland and it will certainly not do anything to meet the demands of the people in Dublin Fingal West. Will the Minister look seriously for more funding to support childcare providers in areas of high demand? As I said, I cannot understate the demand in Balbriggan, Skerries, Rush and Lusk. It is one of the youngest constituencies in Ireland - Balbriggan is the youngest large town - and we need to be doing everything we can to support more childcare providers. Fingal is littered with empty sites that are supposed to be childcare facilities and we as a Government need to do everything to make sure they are delivered. I very much hope childcare is a priority of this Government.

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