Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

I want to comment on a number of points that were well made by Senator Keaveney. She outlined cogently the value and great contribution that the community child care sector has done throughout the country, with which we are all familiar. Senators Keaveney, Wilson and I, who all come from rural communities, appreciate it is not always possible for a facility in a remote rural area to have the critical number of attendees that would justify and make it viable. I can assure the House that in the enhancement of the scheme, as we stated from the outset, in regard to issues such as peripherality, a rural factor or an isolation factor, we will ensure there is a weighting in favour of those types of projects.