Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire and welcome her to the House yet again. It is interesting that the Minister concluded her presentation by referring to a quote from the European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion in which he stated that investing in early childhood education and care must be a shared commitment. The Minister noted it is a firm commitment of the present Administration. However, I suggest to the Minister, with respect, that while this may be a firm commitment of the Minister, I am not so sure the evidence indicates it is a firm commitment of the present Government because all that has happened under the present Government and its predecessor has been a slash-and-burn approach in terms of child benefit reductions. I am grateful to one of those who served on the Minister's committee, Mary Murphy, who wrote a critique on this issue that was published in The Irish Times. I also watched her appearance on the "Tonight with Vincent Browne" television programme with great interest on the day the Magdalen report was published. When pressed by Vincent Browne, she was highly consistent regarding the savings that were being made. I understand that were these proposals to be implemented, the figure being mentioned at the time of the report's publication was approximately ¤200 million. She used a very interesting term - I am sorry I did not think of it myself - when she stated the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform was hovering like a vulture over the Department of Social Protection. Moreover, she is correct because that is what it is doing.