Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)

Every Deputy who stands up will have a story to tell about his or her own constituency and the absence of effective childcare or aftercare provision, precisely because this insidious issue affects the means by which parents organise their days, get into work and ensure that their children are looked after in a manner that taken for granted in most other jurisdictions. It is difficult to know where to begin when detailing the systematic failures that brought us to this point. We are talking about a sector that is as fundamental to a child's development as primary and secondary education, yet it has been allowed to become almost entirely privatised, where it is even available.

I was asked to visit an after-school facility in my constituency of Dublin Central about two weeks ago. At Mountjoy Square Park, it is an incredible community after-school project that does immense work. I pay tribute to the staff there. The building they are asked to work in is something that will stay with me for a long time. The walls were mouldy and cracked and could not hold furniture. The pathways outside were broken all the way alongside it. The back door was just unusable. Of the children receiving great care there, many were in homeless accommodation on Gardiner Street. Other children had come in through our international protection system. I looked at and touched the walls of that building and I could not for the life of me understand how a State could enable a situation where children would be cared for in an environment such as that, if care even exists.

The stories I hear every day from communities in Drumcondra and Glasnevin show that childcare is not available. In recognition of that fact, we asked Dublin City Council recently to do an audit of buildings that may be available for childcare or after-school provision. We hear so much about dereliction and empty buildings in central Dublin. We never hear anything innovative in terms of how we could reanimate those buildings to create a real sense of public good. There is no public good more important than the allocation of childcare provision. Dublin City Council simply said that was not within its remit.

In the lead-up to the election, the Government promised that childcare fees would be capped at €200 a month. The Government has failed to deliver upon that promise. It is not a promise that I want to play politics with because this issue is fundamental to the basic necessity of parents and guardians the length and breadth of the country. Páistecare is a good, innovative solution that is worth pursuing.

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