David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for attending the Chamber at short notice. I commend Senator Jillian van Turnhout for pressing the issue and the Leader of the House for arranging the debate. Everyone in the House and the public at large were shocked by the contents of the "Prime Time" programme. The shock was quickly followed by anger owing to the fact that this was not a new issue. As far back as 2006 and in a report in 2008, problems with understaffing, inadequate supervision and failures in vetting were identified. Five years after the report and seven years after it first became an issue, a programme showed the abuse of children in crèches.

I know many people who work in the child care sector and the vast majority of those who work in it are of the highest integrity, well qualified and do a superb job. Unfortunately, a minority have not done a good job and have let down everyone in the sector. They were guilty of child abuse, which is the only way to describe how some children were treated. The Taoiseach spoke about the brand image of child care being of the highest standard. We all want to see this, but how can it be squared when we look at the JobBridge website which carries child care worker adverts seeking interns with no experience to work with children for €50 a week? I do not see how this can sit with the brand of child care about which the Taoiseach talked.

It comes back to the issue of whether we value caring. We have had the Minister in the Chamber several times. We must place some of the responsibility on the previous Government with respect to an investment in caring generally and the value attached to it. For years I worked very closely with the Carers Association on its demand for a national caring strategy. I commend the Government for bringing it forward, but none of this, including the children's rights referendum which Sinn Féin supported, means anything if children are being abused and mistreated.

With regard to State funding for child care facilities, the three crèches that were the subject of the report are still open. Are they still receiving State funding? When will we see changes to the inspection regime? Will we continue to see State money being given to child care facilities that are not run properly and in which children do not receive the service they need and are subject to much worse in some areas?

I recognise the Minister has a difficult job to do, but I must be honest when she is in the Chamber and say she has been in the job for two years. There is a responsibility on the Government not just to look back at the previous Government's failures but also to undertake the responsibility to fix the problems in the system and make sure the issues that surfaced in 2006, 2007 and 2008 are properly fixed. We should have proper supervision, inspection and the world-class child care facilities children deserve and need.