Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Niamh Smyth, for coming to the House. I want to talk to her about childcare, particularly in Kilcullen, County Kildare, in my constituency. It was the end of July when I was contacted via email and phone by a number of families in Kilcullen about the lack of childcare in that growing town.

I met with a large number of mothers on a very sunny day outside a local community centre. I was immediately struck by their concerns and the problems they were facing. I was informed about the Kilcullen Needs Childcare group following that first meeting and set about finding the extent of the problem facing those mothers and their families, many of whom are new to the town of Kilcullen. In the last two months, that survey has identified 110 families facing childcare difficulties in Kilcullen. This figure translates into 153 children in need of childcare or after-school places in Kilcullen. Kilcullen is a growing town and only last Saturday I was delighted to be invited to the official opening of the field of dreams, which is a brilliant €1 million development by the local GAA club that will future-proof the GAA needs of the town and provide a community walkway, which is already getting great use. However, there is no doubt that there is a problem regarding childcare. This problem will only worsen. Local reporter Brian Byrne reported today in hisKilcullen Diaryblog that 74 more homes were seeking planning permission.

It is always important in a debate like this to detail the human story, what these families are facing and the pressure they are under in the town of Kilcullen. I want to provide some examples. One mother said her son was three months old. She was still on maternity leave, but she had not yet found a place for him for when she returned to work. She decided to take extra unpaid leave for an additional two months. After this time, she would either need to find a private childminder and see her husband reduce his work hours or for him to become a full-time carer and give up his career, as they were unable to afford a full-time childminder. They were on more than ten waiting lists and had to apply outside the county, too. Another mother said her baby was not born yet, but she already knew she would have to travel outside Kilcullen for childcare until a place opened up for their little one. It makes things much trickier for work and socially for their child, whom she wants to be with the kids she will be going to school with when she grows up. Another mother says she has a six-year-old son and is struggling to find an after-school place for him. Her partner has a full-time job and she had to quit her job to take care of their son due to the lack of after-school places for him.

I could go on and on. In total, we had 110 families experiencing childcare problems in this town. I have previously spoken with the Minister for children in relation to this problem, and she is aware of it. I have raised it at every opportunity I can and the community group continues to raise it with every public representative in the Kilcullen area. What we need to see is an intervention by the Government for public childcare places to relieve the problem. We cannot continue to build houses in the town of Kilcullen unless we have the childcare provided there. Another mother told me she was considering leaving the town because the only childcare she could get was some 70 miles away where she was actually born. She travels three days a week in order to avail of that childcare.

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Wall for raising this important issue. He has raised the issue specifically around Kilcullen in County Kildare. Truthfully, however, the issue he has raised is more widespread than that. It is not so specific to Kilcullen, but I appreciate he is advocating for the parents in that local area who are left without childcare as an opportunity to allow them to go to work and to fulfil their daily lives and their careers. It is an issue we see nationally. However, this Government is committed to core funding being introduced to all of our childcare units around the country and trying to invest in childcare. There are myriad community childcare facilities around the country, as I am sure there are in County Kildare, and privately owned ones, too. All of them have seen a transformation in how childcare is operated and delivered upon. More than anything else, providing capacity and ensuring that parents living in any area have childcare places is critical. Deputy Wall makes very valid points. It is an argument that could be replicated in lots of places around the country. County Kildare is nearly a suburb of Dublin now, with lots of parents are commuting everyday. It impacts mothers particularly when they do not have facilities or places available to them.

I will relay the issues that Deputy Wall raised pertaining to Kilcullen to the Minister with responsibility for children and disabilities, Norma Foley. I will liaise with the Minister and ask if she will meet with Deputy Wall on this specific issue around Kilcullen to see if anything more can be done in the community care setting and the private care setting to grow capacity and ensure parents in Deputy Wall's area have the childcare places they need to fulfil their daily lives.

Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State for her reply. She is right; it is a problem in County Kildare and a problem throughout the State, but it is particularly bad in the town of Kilcullen. Nowhere else that I know of has 110 families facing childcare difficulties in the one town. The population of Kilcullen is just over 4,000, so one can imagine the percentage of families seeking childcare.

I have given the Minister of State some examples, and she is right about them almost all being women. Women are giving up their work and careers. We had physiotherapists and gardaí at that meeting who now have to give up their jobs. That is going to have an knock-on effect for us all and all our communities if it happens. As the Minister of State and I know, the waiting list for physiotherapy is long and the need for gardaí around the country is great at the moment. If these women give up, we will all be in trouble. It will add to our social problems right around the country.

I welcome that the Minister of State may be in a position to set up a meeting with the Minister, Norma Foley. I have already made her aware of this but, unfortunately, we have not had any progress in identifying a centre to cater for these families and the 153 children. The Minister, Deputy Foley, suggested using primary schools and the school setting for after-school services. I am not sure if that is an option in Kilcullen, but it is something we should pursue, because this is an emergency. I cannot, as a public representative, not bring this to the attention of the Minister of State or the Minister. Kilcullen is a fabulous town. There is a great community spirit in it. However, when there are new people coming to the town who, within six months, say they have to leave because of the childcare problem, it is an issue we all need to get involved in.

I welcome the Minister of State's response. I look forward to meeting the Minister, Deputy Foley, as would the families and the Kilcullen Needs Childcare group, because we need action for the families living in the town.

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Wall for raising what is a pressing matter for his area and people in Kilcullen. As he said, it has a population of 4,000, but 110 families are affected and 153 children are without a place. Kilcullen has a growing population. When a population is growing, we want to keep that population because of the impact on enterprise, including small and medium businesses, around the area and on schools, given that populations feed primary schools. Schools depend on bums on seats to have the teachers and resources, so it all has a knock-on effect.

I appreciate the Deputy raising this issue about his area of Kilcullen in County Kildare. I will follow up with the Minister, Deputy Foley, about it. The two-stream solution has to be looked at. For example, what options are there for providing a community childcare facility? Maybe it should be attached to the local primary school. I do not know, but those solutions must be teased out and the correct place to do so is with the Minister, Deputy Foley. I will ask her to facilitate a follow-up meeting with the Deputy to discuss the particular issues pertaining to Kilcullen.