Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)

I welcome the Minister to the House. I also thank her for the briefing note. As Deputy Kerrane said, it has been very helpful to us in preparing our few words tonight.

I want us all to go back to the previous debate and our discussion of the accommodation recognition payment. I again put on record our thanks for that payment and state how helpful it has been to the Ukrainian community in helping them integrate into the many communities they are in. I look forward to working with the Minister and the Department of Justice on that. The payment has been extended to 2026.

I again raise the matter of the national childcare scheme website. I previously raised it as a priority question. As the Minister knows, the website does not list fees for childcare providers for 2021, which is a key year in which fees are benchmarked against core funding. We spoke about this previously, when the Minister informed me that an update of the website was coming. If the Minister has an update on that, I hope she can share it with us because that information is so important to parents and those working in the sector.

I agree with my colleague on assessments of need. We had a long debate on that yesterday. There is obviously a need to fund Cara's fund and to get that workplace schedule in place as quickly as possible. I gave some examples yesterday of those on the assessments of need waiting list. I will not go back there again, but safe to say it is a huge issue for so many people in public life, as I am sure it is for the Minister and her office.

I note and welcome the increase in childcare expenditure, which is now combined for early learning and care. The school-age childcare division in the Department has €1.39 billion. However, UNICEF has proposed an investment of 1% of GNI, which equates to an investment of €2.7 billion. That is something the Government has to seriously look at in the context of the childcare proposals. Every political party spoke about a public childcare model during their election campaigns. We also spoke about the €200 per month cost. The Minister referenced that over the lifetime of the Government she hopes to bring in cover for this €200 cost for parents. This is a huge issue for areas such as Newbridge, in my area. It is a second mortgage, as I described previously, for so many parents. We need to look at this again. We also need to bring in that childcare measure of €200 per month as quickly as possible. It is to be hoped, as the Minister works through the budget, she will look at getting that cost down for so many parents as quickly as possible.

I will also mention many of the rural and smaller childcare providers who are suffering. I have spoken with so many of them. They need help. Many of those providers are in areas where others may not provide childcare. They are doing such a great job that they need to be protected, encouraged and developed. I hope the Minister can take that on board because these small and medium childcare providers are in and for communities. They are allowing so many people to get to work and to have children minded as well.

On page 4 of the briefing note, the disability budget is referenced. The increase in that is very much welcome. As is stated on that page, the Government is committed to supporting and empowering people with disabilities and to providing funding in the area of specialist community-based disability services. I take this opportunity to thank all those working in this area, especially section 39 workers. I note that this Vote will pay the public sector pay deal and the WRC section 39 deal. That is to be welcomed. I thank all those section 39 workers who go above and beyond, day in day out, with disability services. The one area I will ask about, and the Minister's Department may not be directly involved in it, is that of empowering people to gain employment. It is a major issue for the disability community and many of those I deal with. I hope that through the additional money we have we can investigate that, work with section 39 organisations and, more importantly, employees, to try to identify ways we can get more people with a disability into employment. It is one of the biggest areas that is raised with me on a weekly basis by people who are asking for assistance in that area. Hopefully, it is something we can work on together into the future.

I welcome the fact the Minister plans to extend family resource centres. There is a number of them in south Kildare that do great work, including one in the town of Athy, which does great work, day in and day out. I met with a number of them recently in north Kildare - my colleague, Deputy Farrelly, may take this up a little more - where there is a desire, given the population, that we increase the number of family resource centres there. It is something they will be contacting the Minister about. I welcome the fact that applications have been opened.

I am always interested when a Minister states she is getting more money, in this case, for playgrounds. It is a huge area for so many people. I welcome the fact she mentioned inclusivity and specialist playground equipment because that is huge in so many playgrounds. Many of the playgrounds in Kildare and elsewhere are not, unfortunately, fit for purpose for those with a disability, but they are changing. I welcome that the Government is recognising that. I hope we can work with the Minister to continue rolling out specialist equipment for them and for everybody, and to have inclusive communities so everybody, and all children, can enjoy the playgrounds that are available to them.

As I said, I thank the Minister for tonight's briefing note. I look forward to working with her through this brief. It is a very important one for so many people, including those in our childcare services, who have looked for proper funding for years. I have campaigned for a long time, along with a number of people, for a public childcare model. It is something the Minister will hear me speaking about a great deal in the coming weeks and months. It is time that we took this seriously. It is time that we paid staff in childcare services, who have long campaigned for proper pay and conditions. Those smaller and medium-sized childcare providers need to be protected. These are the issues on which I look forward to dealing with the Minister in the coming weeks and months. I thank her for her engagement tonight.

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