Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I thank Deputy Currie very much for raising this issue and for the focus she rightly keeps on early learning and childcare. I thank her for her work in that regard. Certainly, we will discuss this with the Minister, Deputy Foley. The Government will be publishing an action plan on childcare, which endeavours to knit together the 21 programme for Government commitments on childcare. I expect that to happen in the coming weeks, either just before or, perhaps more likely, just after the budget.

I wish to make one broad point that is slightly linked. While I fully accept the point about baby rooms and the need for us to do more in that regard, I am also proud of a number of the steps we have taken to help parents have more time with their child in that first year. Obviously, we know babies benefit most from individual attention from loving and responding caregivers, enabling them to form strong bonds and foster that parent-child relationship. I am pleased that the combination of maternity, paternity and parent’s leave and parent's benefit now equates to 46 weeks’ paid leave for a two-parent family. This is supplemented by an entitlement to 16 weeks of unpaid maternity leave and 26 weeks of unpaid parental leave for a parent, as well as annual leave entitlements. I wish to provide that context of the importance of the child’s first year of life.

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