Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

I was going to reference next the work the Minister did as Minister for Education in ensuring that more schools opened their facilities after hours for childcare, particularly for after-school care. The Minister will be aware, however, that there have been difficulties with some school boards in getting those schools open. There needs to be a co-ordinated effort between the Minister's Department and her former Department of education to ensure that schools are directed to open those facilities for after-school care and for childcare in general.

It would be great to see a national strategy for after-school and wraparound care. At the heart of this is allowing parents to get back to work knowing their child is being cared for safely, and to ensure that women are not being discriminated against in going back into the workplace. The affordability issue also comes up time and again. I appreciate the work the Minister is doing and has been doing.

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