David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)

I commend Teachta Kerrane on bringing forward this motion. I concur with the points she made on the last general election and the spoofing that was done by Fine Gael especially but also by Fianna Fáil on many issues but most particularly in the area of childcare. The Tánaiste, Deputy Simon Harris, in particular spoke a lot about a public model of childcare. That seems to have gone by the wayside. We called that out during the election campaign for the spoofing that it was, and rightly so. That was followed very quickly by similar proposals by the Minister's party, Fianna Fáil, and they too have fallen by the wayside.

The reality is that the only party that brought forward a plan that looked holistically at the issues in childcare was Sinn Féin. We looked at the funding element of it and at reducing the cost for families. We looked at increasing capacity, dealing with pay and terms and conditions of employment, all of those issues. We looked also at child minding as well as childcare services. Our plan was the only one that would comprehensively deal with the issues of childcare. We said it during the course of the election campaign, and I believe we will be proven correct, that what the leader of Fine Gael was saying at the time was not going to come to pass. I do not believe we are any closer to any form of public model of childcare that was spoken about then.

I briefly want to talk about an issue that is relevant to this debate on childcare. We hear a lot from the Government on the need to move to a seven day a week health service, with which I agree. To make that happen will require additional staff. However, when we talk about nurses, healthcare assistants and radiologists, particularly those who are female, childcare is a barrier for them working seven days a week. If we want them to work on Saturdays and Sundays as part of five days over seven, they are going to need childcare. As we know, that is going to be difficult if childcare itself is only available five days a week. There are many issues on which the Government has not joined up the dots. That is one of them. I deal with nurses all the time who tell me that because of hours and overtime childcare is a huge issue for them. If the Minister for Health and the Government are serious about moving the health service to a seven day a week health service, they are going to have to fix the problems in childcare. These problems have to be fixed for all workers, both public and private. Again, I commend Deputy Kerrane on moving this motion.

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