Emer Currie (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I believe I am sharing time with Senator Maria Byrne but she is not here. I thank the Minister for coming to the House and putting this matter on the agenda.

It does not take long for me and my friends or any group of mums in whose company I am to get on to the topic of childcare and how cost and supply are such barriers. At the moment, friends of mine who have babies say they cannot find a place in a crèche for any child in the area under the age of one. That is not a good position to be in if they want to return to work. I appreciate we are doing everything we can to give people the option to stay with their children for the first year, if that is what they want, but the option is increasingly not there if they want to return to work. In Castleknock we are talking €1,300 per month for childcare, which is close to what I pay. The cost of childcare still results in women dropping out of the workforce, particularly in the 25 to 44 age group and especially if they have more than one child. That also contributes to the gender pay gap.

We all know that when the early childhood care and education, ECCE, scheme was brought in, it was fantastic, but we have moved on since and the national childcare scheme has been introduced. The Minister will introduce improvements to the scheme this year, which are very positive. The new core funding scheme is also very positive, as is the commitment to increase it to €1 billion by 2028.

Capacity and supply are issues. How do we ensure more childcare providers open up in communities? The Minister and I both know they are not opening up in communities. The town centre first model is something by which we could assist the opening up of more community infrastructure and supports, if that is an option. The town centre first funding is linked primarily to the urban regeneration and development fund and the rural regeneration and development fund. We are talking about using the town centre first option to reinvigorate towns and villages and move towards 15-minute cities. Could childcare feature as part of this? I know that, traditionally, they have been bigger projects. Could the likes of this scheme and co-working hubs feature as part of these proposals? If we are talking about bringing together local groups such as businesses, Tidy Towns committees and community childcare groups, I presume we are giving them a say in our urban planning frameworks, for instance, and that there would be access to more funding for things like community childcare, which could be not-for-profit. Is that a potential driver? If those funding streams are not a good fit and are not accessible, we should find some that are.

On the issue of the buildings that Senator Seery Kearney mentioned, we have seen them as well and how they have been part of plans and then have not opened. Another reason they have not opened is because some of those buildings have not been appropriate for childcare facilities. If we are going to make it mandatory that there is provision for childcare services in a development, then we must make sure the buildings are suitable.

I wish to ask about the 26 weeks of unpaid parental leave. At the moment a person can avail of it in one continuous block. He or she can ask for it from his or her employer, and while the employer can postpone it for six months, he or she must give it to the person. It is stronger than a right to request flexible work. It is a right to have flexible work. A person can get unpaid parental leave in one continuous block or in two with a certain amount of time between the two of them. At the same time, a person can ask for the leave to be divided up between hours and days, but an employer can refuse that and it is entirely at his or her discretion. Have we not moved to a stage where we should amend the unpaid parental leave Act to say that, under the same strength of provision, a person can access flexible working, whereby, for example, he or she can work four days a week under that entitlement as well? It is the strongest entitlement there is in terms of access to flexible working. Could we amend it? I am out of time, and I have more questions.