Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion. My constituency of Dublin Rathdown has the most expensive childcare in the country. I hear from people every week in emails, whether they are people I am in contact with or they contact me, who talk about the twin problems of cost and capacity, that is, the absolute crippling cost to families and the chronic lack of places. Those two inevitabilities end up with people either having to leave the workplace to provide childcare in their own home or a strain on families who are already squeezed by the cost of rent, groceries and electricity. I echo Deputy Farrelly’s comments on equality. Although we have the most expensive childcare in the country in Rathdown that does not mean we have a homogenous group of people who can afford it. We are not all affluent in Dublin Rathdown. Many people are already put to the pin of the collar and this places great additional strain on them.

I also will speak to the gendered aspect of this because as we all know, this crisis disproportionately affects women. They are the majority of low-paid childcare workers and they - we - are often the ones expected to stay at home when childcare is not available or affordable in a family. We know that countries that have proper support for parents have better gender equality, smaller pay gaps and better outcomes for children and their parents. We also know that the solutions are in front of us. This motion calls for timely action on the consultation and action plan in order that we can see the public provision of childcare happen and the realisation of those election promises to provide public affordable childcare. A public system of childcare is what we need. It is done in so many other countries. It guarantees wages for staff, stability and affordability for parents and ensures that child welfare is never in competition with profit margins.

I am happy to endorse the motion and the amendments we have proposed.

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