Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

I will not press the amendment but I wish to comment on the Minister's response for which I thank him. I am surprised that he does not know how many children were excluded because of the cutbacks last year. People must take certain avenues to apply for this allowance so I am surprised the Minister does not have any figures or know the impact of this cutback.

While the Minister accepts that child care is the responsibility of three different Ministers, that is unacceptable and is very unwieldy. Maybe he could bring this up with his colleagues. It would be better if one Minister had responsibility for children and child care. This is a major issue and is frequently raised in this House. It is difficult to deal with when it straddles three Departments.