Childcare Services
Seanad Éireann — 2023-11-30
============================================================

Garret Ahearn (FG), Administrative Panel

Absolutely, the Minister of State has, and that is exactly it. It is about public consultation, bringing it in on a phased basis and making sure that we reassure people working in that sector that they are being recognised. In the Minister of State's contribution, she said that the settings and the particular type of childcare they provide will be taken into account, and it will be proportionate. That is really important. The Minister of State gets it. She totally gets it, and I have full faith in her and this process. It is about bringing that sector with us.
Regarding people who do not understand the sector, the Minister of State outlined it really well. There are people working shifts and different things where a childminder is more beneficial than a childcare provider. Sometimes when they are talking, it is almost as if people who do not really understand the sector think that they are looking to have 40 kids in a sitting room, and they want no regulation. Nobody cares about looking after these kids and making sure they are protected more than childminders. They treat them as if they are their own kids. What they are looking for is a balanced approach, and I have absolute faith that the Minister of State will be able to provide that. I thank her for her response.

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2023-11-30/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:52:28+00:00
Sitting date: 2023-11-30