Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Seanad Éireann" and substitute the following:

—welcomes the Government's belated and limited recognition of the costs borne by parents in bringing up their children and the need for additional maternity leave;

—regrets that the Government has not provided for paid parental and paternal leave; and

—further regrets that the Government's financial package did not include an additional element which would allow access to quality assured early childhood education and care for all children.

I am delighted Senator Feeney has opened her contribution with an attack on the Fine Gael Party. Senator Feeney is not correct about many matters but she is correct in stating that this five-year plan has been unveiled in the Government's ninth year in office. This is in response to the frustration of taxpayers who have to meet the excessive costs of child care. Having lost two by-elections humiliatingly and having failed to get its message across when it became socialist in September 2004, the Government has resorted to publishing a five-year plan during its ninth year in office. That is the only statement from the Senator that resonates with any truth.

I wish to address her ill-thought out, juvenile remarks on comments made by my party members and me. When creating its child care package, and specifically the child care supplement, the Government did not factor in the potential claims of a significant number of migrant workers. When RTE, which ran this investigative story, raised the matter the Government was unaware of this potential cost. Subsequently, it conceded that it would have to pay on these claims. In his Budget Statement the Minister for Finance was referring to assisting people in this country to deal with the excessive costs of child care. That was the rationale behind the proposal.

The Taoiseach apologised to our party and effectively withdrew the charge of racist slur but I ask Senator Feeney, who persists in making that charge, to read what was said by the leader of her own party.