Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister back to the House.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The purpose of this Bill is to ensure that Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, has the appropriate enforcement powers to address serious non-compliance with regulations for early years services and that parents have access to information on the quality of those services. The intention is not to increase enforcement action, but to make it more effective, address some of the limitations of the current legislation and thereby improve overall compliance within the sector. The Bill will also remove the current exemption from regulation of self-employed childminders who work in the childminder’s home. The removal of this exemption will allow me, following enactment, to introduce childminding-specific regulations.

The opening up of regulation to childminders will make possible their participation in the national childcare scheme, NCS, which is the subsidy the State currently uses to reduce the cost of centre-based childcare for parents. It has done a lot by reducing costs by 25 % last year and will reduce them by 25 % in September this year. We want to ensure that parents who use childminders are also able to avail of those cost savings. I am committed to ensuring that childminding-specific regulations, when they are introduced following enactment of this legislation, will be proportionate and appropriate to the home and family setting in which childminders work.

Concerns have been raised about the extent of the consultations my Department has undertaken on the draft childminding regulations. It is important that I reaffirm both the scale of consultation to date and my commitment to ongoing consultation and engagement with childminders in the drafting of the regulations. My Department has just concluded a 12-week consultation on the draft regulations, which ran from February to May of this year. This consultation had more than 1,000 inputs from childminders, parents and other stakeholders. The report on the consultation is being prepared at the moment and will be published once finalised. In addition, in developing this Bill, the Department undertook public consultation from March to October 2022 on policy proposals contained within the general scheme of the Bill. I understand that there is anxiety about scale among childminders. A change is coming to the sector. However, I want to make it clear that the draft regulations on which there has been public consultation are a draft. There will be changes on foot of the public consultation.I had a good engagement with Childminding Ireland last week and we are doing further workshopping on the regulations on foot of that to make sure they are appropriate to the settings of childminders.

I will turn to the provisions of this Bill. Section 1 defines the Child Care Act 1991 as the principal Act.

Sections 2 and 3 move the definition of "personal data" to ensure the definition applies also to Part 7A of the principal Act.

Section 4 amends section 58A to define new terms introduced in this Bill, including a definition of "childminding service". The section also amends the definition of "early years service" to include the childminding service.

Section 5 amends section 58B to empower the Minister to make regulations to ensure registered providers of early years services, persons in charge of services and persons involved in management are fit and proper persons to carry out those functions. This section also provides that the Minister may make regulations requiring early years services to share information on certain enforcement actions with parents and to share personal data of parents with the Child and Family Agency, where necessary and proportionate.

Section 6 makes a technical amendment to section 58C.

Section 7 amends section 58D to require the agency to correct the register where it finds an error and to take into consideration enforcement action taken against a registered provider or a relevant person when making a decision on registration. This section also provides the agency with discretion in registering decisions, including considering past convictions of early years service providers.

Section 8 inserts a new section 58DA that requires the agency to publish information on enforcement actions against early years services where to do so is in the children's interests.

Section 9 amends section 58F to provide for appeals against a temporary prohibition order, which is a new enforcement power introduced by this Bill.

Section 10 amends section 58J by the insertion of new subsections relating to the validity of the warrant and the inspection of documents and records by Tusla's early years inspectorate. The measure includes allowing for more than one entry to a premises over a 38-day period under a warrant.

Sections 11 and 12 put onto a legislative footing certain steps on the enforcement pathway that are currently administrative steps, these being improvement notices where an authorised person requires a provider to address an issue of significant concern that, if it persists, is likely to pose harm to a child, and immediate action notices where an authorised person requires a provider to address an issue that poses an immediate risk of harm to a child. In both cases, if the provider does not comply with the notices, sections 11 and 12 provide for Tusla to apply to the District Court for an order to comply with the notices, either an improvement order or an immediate action order.

Section 13 inserts a new section 58JC to enable an authorised person who is of the opinion that there is an immediate and grave risk to the health, safety or welfare of a child attending a service to issue a temporary prohibition order preventing the service from operating for a specific period of up to six weeks, extendable to 12 weeks if the matter has not been remedied.

Section 14 inserts a new section 58JD that enables the agency to apply to the District Court for a closure order against a service in certain situations, including where a temporary prohibition order was in place and the service is carried out in contravention of the order, where the matters specified in the temporary prohibition order are not remedied before the expiration of the order and where the agency has reason to believe that a person is providing a prescribed early years service where they are not registered to do so.

Section 15 inserts a new section 58JE that allows a registered provider or relevant person to appeal to the Circuit Court a decision of a District Court to grant a closure order within seven days of the granting of the closure order. The section also stipulates that the bringing of an appeal against a closure order does not have the effect of suspending the operation of a closure order.

Section 16 amends section 58K to extend the actions for which a person is guilty of an offence to include failure to comply with an improvement order, an immediate action order, a temporary prohibition order or a closure order. A person who impedes or obstructs an authorised person during the course of an inspection under section 58J was already guilty of an offence and this section also ensures this provision extends to all the agency's power of inspection.

Section 17 amends section 58L of the principal Act by enabling a person who cares for children other than their own children to register with Tusla if they provide an early years service, including a childminding service. It will remain the case, however, that a person who only cares for relatives is not required to register with Tusla.

Section 18 inserts a new section 58M that provides for transitional arrangements that will apply to childminders over a three-year period following the repeal set out in section 22. The amendments allow for the exemptions repealed by section 22 of this Bill to continue to apply to any person to whom they applied prior to the repeal of the exemptions. This transitional arrangement will also apply to any person who commences as a childminder during the transition period once they meet the previous conditions of the exemption.

Section 19 amends Schedule 1 of the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 by substituting "an early years service" for "a pre-school service" to ensure that, for the purposes of Garda vetting, the definition of "relevant work or activities" encompasses childminding services and school-age childcare services and not just preschool services.

Section 20 amends Schedule 2 of the Children First Act 2015 by the substitution of "an early years service" for "a pre-school service" to ensure the definition of "mandated persons" includes not just a person working in preschool services but also childminders and persons working in school-age childcare.

Section 21 amends the Childcare Support Act 2018. It amends the definition of "childcare service" to refer to the amended definition of "early years service" in this Bill to ensure childminders are able to take part in the national childcare scheme, NCS. The section also amends Schedule 2 agreements with certain statutory bodies by the addition of the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science as a statutory body who can enter into an agreement under section 14 of the 2018 Act for the provision of supports for vulnerable children.

Section 22 repeals section 58L(b) and (c) of the principal Act, thus, once the Act is commenced, bringing childminders who work in the childminders' homes into the scope of regulation, subject to the transitional arrangements in section 18.

Section 23 is a standard provision that provides for the Short Title and collective citation and allows for the commencement of different provisions of the Bill.

As I said, this Bill has two key purposes. One is to update Tusla's enforcement powers across all areas and the other is specifically for childminders as the Bill takes out that exemption and allows for the creation of regulation. We look forward to the wide scale registration of childminders and to allowing the parents who use their services to draw down from the NCS. I commend the Bill to the House.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for his comprehensive opening statement. I hope Senators will not be repeating everything the Minister said but will bring their own thoughts to his contribution.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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That goes without saying.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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It does not necessarily go without saying.

Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael)
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How dare the Acting Chair cast aspersions on us what we have to say?

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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It was before Senator Boyhan made a comment and not afterwards that I made that comment.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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We have loads of time set aside for this Bill.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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We have as much time as Senators like. However, Senator Boyhan, like everyone else, only has ten minutes.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I am precise and succinct.

Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael)
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We are wasting time talking about rubbish instead of getting on with what we should be doing.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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I call Senator Seery Kearney.

Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael)
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This is important legislation to children who need care and parents who want to access the workplace and other places and need their children cared for.

I welcome this legislation. It is important we extend our funding model for childcare to the extent that we ensure childminding is recognised for the professional service it is. Childminding has come an awfully long way in the past 30 years. It used to be that the woman down the road cared for children, whereas now there are people who are educated in childcare and child development, have professional qualifications and want to create a home environment for a child and to care for other children as a service, and who want to have that as their income. It is, in the main, a female-based service by the nature of it. If we look at the childminders who were registered in the past, we see that is the case.

In every way, I completely concur with this Bill. I believe it is important that if the State is putting money into childminding and recognising its professional standing, it is important we have some regulation. I am hopeful that, because the Bill is coming through now, we will see a big uplift in the budget to ensure we have funding for childminding services.

Parents need a flexible response. The idea there are overnight stays and other types of provision within childminding leads to a more nimble response to childcare than registered childcare providers in crèche and early years settings. This is more ideal for parents who work shifts. There are a whole heap of things for which this legislation is important.

I am wary of the legislation from the perspective of the current inspectorate. We have long-established regulations regarding crèche services and an inspectorate that goes into those services. The inspectorate may go in and find fault in a service that three years previously it found to be perfect with regard to the sense of the architecture, the establishment, the placing of a door or the absence of a door.The application of inspections in the here and now has an arbitrary nature. That was one of the recommendations in the pre-legislative scrutiny report, which drew attention to the need for predictable criteria from the childcare provider's perspective. I know that because I included it on foot of my experience of advising childcare providers. If that is the case where there is a formalised setting and an off-the-shelf architectural model of baby rooms, toddler rooms and so forth, and if we are cherishing that model as a model of care for children, I am wary of how the application of regulations to somebody's home would be implemented.

I can understand the apprehension of childminders. We have all received emails from them. I have met and spoken with a number of them. The regulations propose that "a registered provider of a childminding service shall ensure that children attending the service have access to age appropriate toys and materials to facilitate play and development." Who decides what is or is not appropriate? That is just one line from the regulations. Who sets that? When I have represented fully established crèches, I have observed that what is deemed appropriate in one inspection is probably not deemed appropriate in the next inspection. It is not that they are using worn-out toys. Everything is renewed and advice is taken. There are fantastic consultants out there who provide services to crèches. We need to be a little more specific than we are here because we are dealing with people's homes. We need to make sure we are not creating a mini crèche. The whole purpose of childminding is that it creates and reflects the home model. We should ensure we are doing so adequately. Given that some elements of the current inspectorate regime are already unsatisfactory, applying them to the home model is somewhat problematic.

I worry about people not registering and making sure they come outside of an obligation to register. I worry about the definition of terms such as "non-family". What happens if it is a partner in the family, a girlfriend or a very close friend? One of my daughter's godmothers is my friend. We are not related. What if she was minding her? I appreciate that we have to have certain numbers, but some family arrangements will not be captured in this. On the other side of it, as we heard at the committee on children today, the Ombudsman for Children is seeking to be included in the inspectorate system so that when it is on a statutory level, there will be an option to refer to the Ombudsman for Children if there is a problem in childcare services. Childminding would be included within that. The Office of the Ombudsman for Children has made recommendations on that. It feels that when there are complaints within services, we need to make sure there is someone to go to beyond that. This would apply when there is subjective hearing of complaints, or when complaints are made but do not go any further.

I am delighted with childminding. It is necessary that we extend it and that the offering to parents is widened as far as it can be, because it is essential for accessing the workplace. We saw during Covid-19 that childcare is essential for the functioning of our society. As I read through the regulations - I appreciate that there is feedback to come on them - I can understand why childminders are wary. I am glad to hear that the Minister is in dialogue with Childminding Ireland, which is excellent and will speak up well for the professionals it represents. I worry that if we regulate too tightly, we may put people off and we may end up suppressing the number of services rather than growing them. The services in question are a very necessary part of this system. The Bill is to be commended. Obviously, I will support it all the way, but we need to consider those matters.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I welcome the Minister and thank him for his overview of this important legislation. It is important at the outset to say we must always be mindful of the protection of the welfare of children in any care setting, regardless of where it is in the home or elsewhere. Sadly there have been too many cases of abuse of children in their homes. That is a reality we have to deal with on a very regular basis.

I acknowledge the work that was done by the Minister's predecessor, Dr. Katherine Zappone. In 2019, as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, she announced a review of the enforcement parts of Tusla in the early years inspectorate. That was undertaken as part of the follow-up to an "RTÉ Investigates" programme that exposed very serious allegations of significant breaches of regulations in early learning and childcare services. It was an important turning point in putting the spotlight on this area. I acknowledge RTÉ for the enormous role it played in this regard. It is an example of public broadcasting at its best.

Clearly, the purpose of this Bill is to ensure that Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, and all people who have appropriate powers and functions are fully compliant with all regulations at the time in relation to the care of our children. The Bill also ensures that parents are provided with access to information in relation to the quality of those services. That is an important point to state.

I acknowledge the work of the joint Oireachtas committee. I understand there were more than 90 recommendations. I do not know whether they were all taken. They were certainly analysed and put down in regard to how all that is going on. I am not a member of the committee but I am aware of its work. I salute and acknowledge its important work. It is perhaps one of the hardest-working committees in the Oireachtas. Its members are all passionate about their work, which is an added advantage. Anyone sitting around that table wants to be there. It is important to acknowledge its input.

We talk about the national action plan for childminding and the importance of childminding. I note what Senator Seery Kearney said about the different settings. While we need to have regulation, we do not want unnecessary bureaucracy and over-regulation because clearly there has to be flexibility. There are different needs for different people, and different sets of circumstances. Issues like what constitutes family, the children in the extended family and the number of units of that family are all part of today's society. There are challenges around the appropriate care of children and age-appropriate support. For a whole range of other reasons, children may need support and minding. I am aware of the work of the committee and want to acknowledge that and its recommendations.

The pre-legislative scrutiny has all been dealt with. In principle, I support this legislation. I understand what the Minister is trying to do. It is important. He has my support in this legislation.

Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail)
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I will bear in mind what the Acting Chairman said about not repeating what the Minister has said. I am taking the Fianna Fáil slot on behalf of my colleague, Senator Erin McGreehan, who has given me my notes. I ask the Chair to forgive me if I repeat slightly some of what the Minister has already said. This is the first opportunity I have had to wish the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, well in his leadership campaign for the Green Party. I wish him well in that regard.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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Hear, hear.

Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail)
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As I said, I am speaking on behalf of my colleague, Senator Erin McGreehan, who was unavoidably called away at short notice. As the Minister said, this Bill seeks to ensure that Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, has the correct powers to address non-compliance with regulations for early years services and to ensure that parents have access to information in relation to the quality of those services.I hope the intention of the Bill of not increasing enforcement actions for childminders is upheld. Childminders, as we all know, are critical for families. It is an important job for many women and some men, as Senator Seery Kearney has alluded to, around the country. They do an incredible job caring for so many children as parents go to work. We must make it more effective and improve overall compliance within the sector.

This Bill, as the Minister has outlined, removes the current exemption from regulation of self-employed childminders who work in the childminder's home. Removing this exemption will allow the Minister, following enactment, to introduce childminding-specific regulations in line with the commitment in the National Action Plan for Childminding 2021-2028. The opening-up of regulations to childminders will make it possible for their participation in the national childcare scheme, thereby expanding access to it for parents who use childminders, which is a key commitment in First 5: A Whole-of-Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and their Families. The Bill proposes to amend a wide range of areas of the Child Care Act 1991, including the introduction of guiding principles, guidelines to support interpretation of the Act, a duty to co-operate, placing local and national co-ordination of matters related to the Act on a statutory footing, clarification of the voluntary care process and amendments to court orders issued under the Act. With respect to early years matters under Part 7A of the Act, the Bill proposes to provide enhanced enforcement tools for Tusla, formal information-sharing with parents, the introduction of fit persons criteria and the removal of the exemptions relating to childminders to facilitate the future expansion of regulation to all paid, non-relative childminders and to allow the Minister introduce childminder-specific regulations.

I take this opportunity to commend the excellent work carried out every day by childminders and those working in early learning and care services and school-age childcare services across the country. While many provisions in the Bill focus on enforcement actions where poor practice is found, we all know the very high quality of most such services and their great importance in giving young children a good start in life and enabling parents to work. I thank the Minister, his officials, the joint committee, those working in the sector and all who have participated in drawing up this Bill and contributing to the development of childcare services.

Emer Currie (Fine Gael)
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The Minister is very welcome. I am very pleased to see this Bill in the House to provide enhanced enforcement tools for Tusla, but also to remove the exemptions under the Act that relate to childminders, to facilitate the extension of regulation to all paid, non-relative childminders and to pave the way for subsidies under the national childcare scheme to apply to childminders. It is a really important day. I am surprised there are not more people here.

I could not do what I do without having our wonderful childminders, Marie Rodgers and before that Rosemary Fair, looking after my two children. My mum used a childminder, Bridget Hughes, from Brackaville in County Tyrone, and it is a testament to how strong the relationship is between a childminder and a child that I went on to choose her name as my confirmation name and called my daughter Rebecca Bridget. That is how much childminding means to me and reflects how much it means to families all over the country.

This has of course been a long time coming. It was included in the National Action Plan for Childminding 2021-2028. There have been many necessary steps along the way, but the most important one is probably yet to come, namely, bringing our experienced and trusted childminders with us and ensuring the regulations in their homes are appropriate and proportionate. I am glad to hear the Minister is working very seriously on that. It is hard to believe that out of approximately 13,000 childminders, fewer than 70 are registered with Tusla. However, looking at the rules in place at the moment the situation is quite confusing. According to Citizens Information, "A childminder can care for up to 5 children under 6 years of age (including the childminder’s own)", but Childminding Ireland’s website says the maximum number of children is six. The tax relief available for childminders allows them to earn up to €15,000 per year and stipulates a maximum of three children under some requirements. While Childminding Ireland promotes basics and does a fantastic job representing its members in the sector, it advocates appropriate insurance, Garda vetting and basic training like paediatric first aid as well as a written agreement. There is not the requirement or an incentive to do so at the moment.

It is quite extraordinary there is such a strong culture of childminding in Ireland and that is on the basis of formal agreements between families, but they have not been underpinned by regulation yet. Strong as that culture is and indispensable as these women and childminders are, we must ensure we protect that culture and enhance it with sensible safeguards rather than diminish it in any way. We want the women who have looked after, loved and cherished our little ones for years to continue to do so and we want to show them how valued they are. They work incredibly long hours, open their homes and their hearts to our children and make them part of their families. It is a unique and special relationship and it has to be protected.

The message needs to be clear and reassuring. This is not a raft of new regulations. We are not going to impose a financial burden, unnecessary paperwork or red tape on childminders. The message should rather be we have the means and the budget to support them over the course of the three years to a place where realistic but fundamental safeguards are in place for parents, childminders and the State and that the State is willing to do that in partnership and in appreciation of the role they play. A question I have is whether €3 million is enough to do that. That is only €230 per childminder if the Minister hopes to register them all. What about capital opportunities or additional grants, supports, equipment and training? Is that going to feature in that €3 million as well?

We must also recognise the understandable concerns of childminders given the concerns that are being raised by the rest of the sector, such as overburdensome paperwork and financial reporting, conflicting regulations from multiple agencies, regulations and inspections that will need to work with the home environment and the provider who is, in this instance, a person and a family. The childminders of Ireland are right to be concerned. This is the right direction, but it is really important the Minister is reassuring them and working with them now and in the future.

Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for being with us to address this Bill. To follow on from what my colleagues have said, it is important we see this sector is managed well, supervised well and monitored. It is about ensuring we have the same level of care, attention and so on across all providers. That is very understandable. I agree with Senator Currie. It is important we give reassurance to those sectors that were not engaged by regulation that they will be and can be encouraged and supported by supports from Tusla on this. I am interested in what systems there will be for a first-time offence or penalty when this legislation comes into place. How will that be engaged with from the Department? I am interested in understanding that part.

There is a real challenge here. Many of my colleagues were speaking about urban areas that are seeing population increases, but we also see this across the whole of the country. The challenge is how we encourage childminders to continue childminding. We must ensure they do not see this as an onerous step that is going to veer them away from offering this service, which is such a vital one for so many communities in small towns and villages countrywide.It allows parents to have a choice. When I was younger I heard of the regulation that operated in the Civil Service back in the 1970s that when women got married they had to leave. It is incredible to think that it has taken such a length of time to get to this point where we have financial supports being provided through the Department. We need to be in a place where, in the context of having the highest population ever, we are supporting parents to have that choice to be able to return to work. That will not be feasible if regulations, through no fault or intent on the part of the Department, reduce the number of childminders available.

I would be interested in hearing how the Minister intends to increase childcare capacity in our towns. There are so many new housing estates being developed but we are not seeing the childcare components of those developments, which would have been given planning permission, going ahead. We need to see action in that regard.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte to the House. Senator McGahon is next.

John McGahon (Fine Gael)
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It is good to see the Minister of State back in the House. I want to follow up on a point made by Senator Currie. She said that she knows how much it means to families all over the country to have childminders. That comment brought be back to my own childhood. I am 33 now and my brother and I had a childminder in 1993. Our childminder was a woman called Rose English from Greengates in County Louth who had such a formative effect on our childhoods. She is still a huge part of our lives, even to this day. It struck me when Senator Currie made her remarks how much of an influence childminders have on children right around the country. I am convinced that if it was not for Rose and everything that she taught my brother and I, we simply would not be the people we are today. I just wanted to take the opportunity to acknowledge childminders and the hugely formative role they play.

One aspect of this Bill that I particularly welcome is how it will underpin regulation and sensible safeguards. That is a key point to acknowledge. It is also going to allow childminders to participate in the national childcare scheme which is both fair and equitable. It puts childminders on a level footing. There is one issue about which I seek clarity from the Minister of State. I received a pretty detailed email from Childminding Ireland outlining various issues its members have with this legislation, some of which I agree with, but there is one issue on which I hope the Minister of State can provide clarity. Childminding Ireland argues that the problem with childcare in Ireland comes from the "corporate" crèches, not locally-based childminders and that what the Government proposes is "an over layer of a centre-based regulatory model on childminders" with no regulatory impact assessment of this proposal. That is one issue that stuck out for me and I would be keen to hear the Government's view on it.

All in all, this legislation is important and welcome. It is delivering on a number of commitments that we made in the programme for Government. At the end of the day, childminders play such an important role both for the parents of the children they are minding and for the children themselves. We can all think of childminders who, many years after a child has become an adult, have had such an impact on that person's life. It is really important to take the opportunity to acknowledge that today.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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It is never easy to respond to a debate when one was not present for most of it but I do not doubt that the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, is the best person to do so.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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While I may not have been present in the Chamber, I was listening to the debate and thank everyone for their contributions. On behalf of the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, I want to thank Senators for their engagement on these important reforms. Regarding the Bill itself, the Minister thanks the Senators for their support in enhancing the Tusla early years inspectorate enforcement tools by strengthening some of Tusla's powers and placing others on a statutory footing for the first time. It is vital that Tusla has the necessary tools to address non-compliance where it arises. As the Minister stated previously, he commends the vast majority of services that operate in the early years sector and the high standards to which they operate. These enforcement tools are aimed at the small minority of services that do not comply with the standards expected.

The Minister has listened to the concerns expressed by Senators regarding the proposals contained within the Bill relating to the regulation of childminding and to those expressed in the Dáil as well. As he mentioned, the majority of the issues that have been raised are not contained within the Bill but relate to the draft childminding regulations. He is still examining the findings of the recent public consultation and will take these into account when finalising the regulations. The Minister believes that the three-year transition period offers an appropriate period of time for childminiders to learn about and prepare for regulation. The active support of Tusla and childminding development officers in the local city and county childcare committees will allay their fears and prepare them for registration. The Minister continues to work with stakeholders, including childminding representatives, to ensure the regulations are appropriate and proportionate to the home and family setting in which childminders work, while at the same time offering the necessary assurance to parents and safeguarding children.

While the Bill will be brought to a conclusion today, the Minister does not intend to commence it or the childminding-specific regulations until September. In the meantime the Minister will continue to engage on the finalisation of the draft childminding regulations to ensure they meet the needs of all of those concerned, including children, parents and childminders. He appreciates that the Bill has moved quite quickly and thanks all those involved in the process of assisting with its progression. It is vital that the Bill is commenced to ensure that childminders can register with Tusla from September, thus allowing parents to access the national childcare scheme.

In conclusion, and on behalf of the Minister, I thank Senators for their engagement on this important legislation. The Minister also wishes to thank the Office of the Attorney General and the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel for their assistance and commitment and the Joint Oireachtas Committee for its valuable contributions.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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When is it proposed to take Committee Stage?

Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail)
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Now.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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Is that agreed? Agreed.