Early Childhood Care and Education
Dail Éireann — 2022-06-02
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Verona Murphy (IND), Wexford

A lot of that sounds very positive but often the headline figures are used as indicators of Government support for particular areas and the true picture can only be seen when that breakdown of funding is examined in greater detail by those who will be able to avail of it or not, as the case may be. The headline figures do not in this case account for the variety of services being funded, nor do they show shortcomings in funding for any particular services.
I commend the work of Elaine Dunne, chairperson of the Federation of Early Childhood Providers, and many others on their tireless work and for informing us. As my daughter is 27, I do not have a need for the service but acknowledge its importance. The sector itself and people such as Elaine Dunne, who have a depth of knowledge, are worth listening to. At all cost, the Department should meet them to understand their roles. They have highlighted some shortcomings in service provision when it comes to comparing full day care with non-full day care.
Correspondence I have been provided with from the federation gets to the heart of the matter, when it stated it is acknowledged that full day care has higher staff ratios. I apologise; as the Minister also has this correspondence, he might just read through it.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2022-06-02/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:50:33+00:00
Sitting date: 2022-06-02