Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)

I have always been very clear that this is like a triangle. There is no point in reducing fees if there are no places for children to attend, and there is no point in having children available and reduced fees if we do not have staff who will work in the sector. There are three elements to this.

On having sufficient places, I want to be clear. Sufficient funding has been provided by Government in terms of core funding. There has been an unprecedented level of investment by Government. There has been a net increase of 226 providers moving into this area. Notwithstanding that, we have to continue working the area.

The Government recently announced the building blocks scheme, which will provide an additional 1,500 places. Equally, there is a commitment from Government, through the forward planning unit, that where there is a lack of capacity being delivered in certain areas, we will move forward with a public model where that might be necessary.

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