Staff packing baby wipes on supermarket shelves can earn more than a staff member using those very same wipes who is responsible for the care of a baby and two other babies. That is fundamentally wrong. We need to ensure there are proper pay scales put in place for those providing vital childcare services across this country.

On research, my colleague, the former Minister, Katherine Zappone, commissioned the consultancy, Crowe, to complete an independent review of the costs of providing childcare in the early years services in Ireland. The review was published by the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, this week. The former Minister commissioned that work because of staff turnover. As the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, said, this has a significant impact on continuity of service but also on individual children who build up relationships with childca…

In the Minister's comments following the publication of the report, he said the findings on unit cost provided some confidence in our current levels of subvention. He then offered the caveat that he was acutely aware that the unit cost is based on pay rates in the sector, which are unacceptably low. The difficulty is that if one focuses on that, as the Minister did in his press statement, it will be turned back on him by Merrion Street as a justification for not increasing the subsidy. The commitment in the program…

I have no difficulty with the Minister carrying out reviews. It is important that he does so. Another recommendation in the programme for Government is that the Government will progress a living wage over its term. We should use the childcare staff and sector as a pilot to roll out the living wage across the country. Regardless of what reports are produced, we all agree - the Minister agreed with me - that the current wages and terms of conditions of staff are completely unacceptable. No matter what recommendations…

The Minister’s own research published earlier this week shows that 70% of childcare costs are directly associated with wages. If we can take the wages aspect out of childcare subvention, we can look at whatever else the funding is being spent on to see if it is being delivered properly. We all accept that the current rates of pay are unacceptably low and that childcare workers need to be paid for the quality of service and education they provide and for the qualifications they have received. Let us ring-fence that …

I thank Deputy Ó Broin and Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion. It brings into stark focus some of the issues relating to the housing sector. It is important that we try and deal with these issues individually and comprehensively. I will focus on two of them. The Government and the Opposition, public representatives across the country and community representatives are all in this together. We are all in this together except, that is, the providers of student accommodation. It is not just those who provide st…

Over the past three weeks, I have brought to the attention of the Taoiseach, the Minister for Health, the chief executive of the HSE and the Minister for Defence the scandal whereby existing front-line therapy staff, including occupational therapists, physical therapists and speech therapists, whose intervention can make a real difference to children's progression in our education system, are sitting in back offices making phone calls as contact tracers asking people whether they have been to the pub. I want these …

I welcome this and it is a very positive development to be commended. However, for James who started school in September 2018 and who was referred by the early intervention team to the Galway and Roscommon autism spectrum disorder service in Athenry and placed on a four-year waiting list for occupational therapy and speech and language therapy, the announcement will not have an impact. His access to these vital supports is now being delayed for a further 12 months because therapists are doing contact tracing. As a …

I welcome the reply from the Minister of State. The difficulty is that she is correct, as her remit is about the education system and the Minister of State with responsibility for disability is in charge of another aspect of it. What is happening is this issue is being passed from Billy to Jack. We took Defence Forces personnel away from contact tracing and we left speech and language therapists doing contact tracing over the past seven months. Take Liam for example. He turned five last month and had his first bloc…

That is much different.

Leaving certificate 2020 was a difficult time for every student. Standardisation caused major concern. Some 6,000 students had their results upgraded. Almost one in 20 students have now applied to sit the examination in November. The students of the leaving certificate class of 2021 are now afraid that they will be messed around. Will there be a leaving certificate examination next June?

A tremendous amount of work has been done by the Minister, her officials, teachers, support staff in schools, pupils and parents to ensure that schools opened in September and remained open. Under our projections, even if we go up to level 5, the modelling is that we will keep our schools open. I am concerned by the caveat in relation to public health advice. We will need to adapt and change the leaving certificate based on public health advice but I need assurance from the Minister for every single pupil who sits …

I thank the Minister for that reassurance. It is important that whatever resources are needed are made available for the class of 2021. Some 2,820 students are going to sit a written exam this November because they unfortunately could not do so last June. What specific resources are being made available for those particular students to assist them and ensure they reach their full potential in the written exam? Are the resources being made available from their old schools or from the Department to assist them in pre…

What about the students themselves?

That is the accommodation but what about resources to assist them in preparing for the exam? I am not talking about the physical accommodation but tutorials and assistance. These students have not sat in a classroom since last March.

I want an answer to the question I asked about what direct supports will be provided to students to prepare them for these exams, considering they have been out of school since last March. That is a basic request.

This is a similar question to the one I asked earlier and so the Minister of State does not need to repeat the answer.

I prefer to avail of the 30 seconds to ask a question. I pointed out earlier how the lack of access to speech therapists is having a direct impact on the education not just of the children with a learning disability but of other children in those classes as well. What is the Government going to do to ensure that speech therapists are taken away from contact tracing and returned to doing their work?

I thank the Minister of State. I understand her remit. I have taken up this issue with the Taoiseach, the Minister for Health, the chief executive of the HSE, the Minister for Defence and, today, the Minister of State, who are the five people in authority across this area. I am making a very simple request, namely, that Defence Forces personnel or retired Defence Forces personnel be asked to do the contact tracing work, inquiring of people about their movements over the last number of days, such that therapists can…

I did not actually ask that question. It was with regard to Covid-19.