Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for being with us today. A little bit of the feedback I have been getting locally on the funding models we are seeing in childcare, and perhaps the Minister might comment a little on it, has been around the idea that smaller childcare providers can still survive with this new funding model. I know it may be challenging in terms of having to expand their premises or being able to take on more staff, but perhaps the Minister might have some comments about how we can protect smaller childcare providers in rural areas. The challenge they sometimes have is that populations can fluctuate, with there being more children in some years and families suddenly moving out of or moving into an area, with the result that there can be a lot of changes. It can be very difficult for independent small providers to manage that, so perhaps the Minister might have a number of comments on that.Childcare is crucial. When I speak to people, particularly around flexible working, what emerges is that they are trying to manage flexible or hybrid working. Childcare has always been crucial. On a number of occasions, my own staff member has needed to be able to work from home for childcare reasons alone. Any investment of funding in this area is crucial.