Childcare Services
Seanad Éireann — 2025-11-18
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Fiona O'Loughlin (FF), Administrative Panel

I thank the Minister of State for his answer. I still believe there are a lot of grey areas. I accept Tailte Éireann is independent in the exercise of its functions. It would appear that there needs to be an amendment to the legislation regarding the exemption, which I am prepared to work on. The Act makes reference to activities not conducted for the purpose of making a private profit. Registered childminders who care for children in their homes will of course be paid an amount of money for that. If a childminder set up a company and paid themselves for their time, there would not be a profit. Therefore, the childminder would have to go to the expense of setting up a company, employing accountants, etc. This is bureaucracy at its best. We need less bureaucracy and red tape.
There is more to do on this. I will read the legislation and look to my colleagues to see whether I can get their support to push an amendment. Surely we could change the legislation to make reference to a certain number of children, perhaps six or eight.
We could make that the cut-off point. Having good childcare is priceless. It is so valuable and important in making society function.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2025-11-18/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:19+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-11-18