Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I agree with calls for a debate on the enterprise strategy report. It is probably correct, as Senator Ryan said, to wait until we have had time to consider it and discuss it in September or October rather than now.

I draw the Leader's attention to a report published yesterday in Britain which is causing the British to reconsider their strategy on child care. For years the emphasis here and in Britain has been on encouraging more child care. The report yesterday suggests that nursery care can lead to increased evidence of anti-social behaviour among children under two years, and the British are apparently going to announce an alternative method of handling child care today which involves encouraging parents to stay at home by increasing the amount of child maternity leave for mothers.

I raise this because that research does not necessarily conform with the research in other countries, so let us not jump to the same conclusion as the British without doing our own research. This issue plays a large part in the enterprise strategy report, and there have been calls for increased child care in Ireland for a long time. We have listened to those and taken some steps but we have not done nearly enough. Let us make sure that when we take the steps we go in the right direction.