Shane Ross (Independent)

Her lobbying has been determined and particularly effective. There should not be some half-baked package in the form of a compromise between Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats. We must grapple with this problem on both fronts, that of the unfortunate person paying so much to go to work in terms of time, traffic and other factors. It must be grappled with equally vigorously by recognising the extraordinary role of people who decide not to go to work.

Many women — this mostly but not altogether concerns women — who have earned, and have the capacity to earn, a great deal have decided to make the sacrifice of not going to work and staying at home. They are pulled two ways on this issue but in the end have no option because of the money. On the one hand, they are made to feel guilty if they do not go out to work which should not be the case. They earn less and are made to feel less adequate members of society.

On the other hand, they feel maybe they should stay at home and look after their children because it is better for the children. That is an honourable choice and one we should recognise. If we are to recognise the role played, and financial sacrifices made, by those who go out to work and put their children into crèches, we must equally recognise that those who stay at home are also making a sacrifice.

The Celtic tiger is not all happiness, apple pie and ice cream. Economic prosperity has brought with it the most extraordinary social problems. Professor John FitzGerald yesterday made an interesting contribution to a SIPTU conference in Cork. He said that while affordable child care is already a big problem, it will get much worse. Among the reasons he cited for this are that many more women than men are progressing to third level education and employers will find that women account for a significantly larger share of the supply of skilled labour than men. Employers will have to attract and hold skilled women and men, many of whom have young children. Meanwhile, the supply of child care will likely decrease.

One can see where this leads. Traditionally, Professor FitzGerald said, child care was provided by women with less than leaving certificate education. Those numbers will fall as more women remain in education causing the price of child care to rise as providers will have higher potential earnings in other sectors due to their higher level of education. He added that while the largest group of people in society today comprises people in their 20s, in a decade it will be those in their 30s. This will have serious implications for society and employment because those people will have children and more children will need child care.

While there are good returns to be had from discos and nightclubs, in a decade those who are up late dancing now will be up late walking the floor with their small children. The number of young parents will rise in the coming decade. They will be better educated than the previous generation and expect good careers for both partners.

We must provide for this serious problem which will soon become an acute crisis. It has not reached that level yet but people who are working, particularly women, are stretched to the limits financially and in terms of their time.

As to what the Government can do, I have only one minute left——