Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein)

We all want to see an early years sector that works for society. We want educators to be paid fairly. We want enough capacity to ensure children get places in their local community. We want to see childcare fees that are affordable for families. To do all that, we need the State to take the lead and not just leave it all to private providers.

In my constituency of Dublin Bay North, we have seen a lot of new homes being built, which are mostly filled by young families. There is then a scramble to secure childcare places with local providers. Some providers in my area are charging parents €800 as a deposit for putting their children's names on a list. The Minister will agree that is outrageous.

As we all know, the majority of caring falls to women. Where a parent needs to give up a job to look after a child, it is mostly women who do so. On top of that, the staff in the sector are mostly women. It is no surprise that a sector consisting mostly of women happens to be one in which staff are underpaid.

The programme for Government gives a commitment, for the first time ever, to public provision in this area. It promises to build or purchase State-owned childcare facilities. That is a huge step forward but we need to see the action plan urgently. We need commitments on a timeframe for delivery. The situation cannot be dragged out any longer. An affordable, accessible and high-quality early years sector benefits everybody. Delivering it needs to be a priority for the Government in this term.

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