Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire go dtí an Teach seo um thrathnóna. I welcome the Minister and thank her for her attention. I wish her well in her brief and compliment her on her achievements to date in this area and the manner in which she has been able to persuade her Fine Gael Cabinet colleagues to travel on the road on which she has taken them.

Many points have been raised by my colleagues. I am not going to go into them again and will try to curtail my contribution mainly to questions.

I have a couple of concerns, the first of which is the €47,000 net income figure. Was a more tiered approach looked at? What is the relevance of the figure of €47,000? I am thinking primarily of those who are earning in excess of that sum and the fact that they will lose out. Was any consideration given to having a tiered, stepped salary scale initiative rather than using this method?

My second concern is Tusla-registered child care providers, of whom there is a limited number. How do we encourage more child care providers to register with Tusla? What are the road blocks in that regard?

The other issue is the demand for places that one imagines will follow this initiative of the Minister. Are we happy that we have the infrastructure in place to accommodate the anticipated demand?

The final issue is the challenge we face everyday in our lives in achieving a work-life balance. It is the parent's choice to stay at home as opposed to feeling he or she would like to go out or has to go out to work. How can we ensure the two ideals are met and seen as genuine goals? I am interested in hearing the Minister's views on how can we look after both those sectors.