Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Both Senators MacSharry and Bacik have raised important points on the early child care issue and how to finance that important stage in the development of a family.

The Mangan report supported universalism even when there was a case of somebody earning €250,000 per year cited as one of the examples. It did not recommend taxing the payment either. It stated that the two-tier system would impact heavily on family income supplement recipients who are low income workers. The statement yesterday by the Minister, Deputy Quinn, has been criticised by Mr. Fergus Finlay of Barnardos and Orla O'Connor of the National Women's Council. Today there is a debate taking place in the UK on whether its high cost of child care is due to the low ratio of children to providers when compared with mainland Europe. The ratio makes a difference to cost. Does it make a difference to outcomes? We need to discuss such child care issues. I support Senator MacSharry's call for the Minister to attend because the Mangan report has been left in abeyance without decisions being made. Its publication was also delayed. We need to discuss the wider issues.

Turning to an entirely different matter, to date, farmers in the Kerry Group have received €270 million for their shares which brings the sum to a total of €2.9 billion since 1993. Since 2011 the share price has risen from €28 to €45 while the rest of the economy has been in a deep recession. The remarkable aspect of the success of Denis Brosnan and his team is the role played by the then Minister for Agriculture, the late Mark Clinton, in converting a dairy disposal company to a private one. He persuaded farmers of the business potential of the Kerry Group. Sometimes the privatisation debate only goes in one direction. The privatisation of the Kerry Group has been a great success for all those involved. Originally it was an idea by Mr. Clinton long before the word "privatisation" was invented by Mrs. Margaret Thatcher ten years later. Its success is well worth noting in Irish agriculture and it is a beacon for us when the rest of the economy may not be doing so well overall.