I thank the Senator for raising this important issue. I acknowledge that even in level 5, childcare professionals are continuing to provide childcare services and school-age childcare for the children of essential workers. They are also providing services to vulnerable children and that is an important support in the economy which did not happen during the major lockdown of March 2020. I express my gratitude to people in the entire sector for all they are doing. The Senator will know that the early learning and car…

There has been rigorous engagement between my Department and the sector over recent weeks and particularly since the higher level 5 restrictions were introduced. We have had eight meetings of the childcare advisory group at which representatives have met officials of my Department. I have attended seven of those eight meetings myself because I know this is a difficult time for providers. We continue to work with providers and wider groups such as SIPTU, which is representing childcare professionals, to make sure th…

I begin by thanking all Members of the House for their very thought-through and meaningful contributions this afternoon and last week. It has been an extremely good and considered debate. It is clear that many Senators have taken the time to go through what is a huge report. It took me weeks to get through it all in detail. Many Senators today, such as Senator Ahearn and some Senators from Galway, picked on local homes such as the one in Tuam to focus on local issues, which in the immediate term are most apparent a…

I am sharing time with the Ministers of State, Deputies Butler and Troy. Last week, the report of the commission of investigation into mother and baby homes was published. Following this, the Taoiseach, on behalf of the Government, offered our apology and asked for forgiveness for the failings of the Irish State, failings that repeated over decades and which had the most horrendous consequences for our most vulnerable citizens. The report is an enormous piece of work, and it will take time for all it discloses abou…

I welcome the opportunity to discuss the report of the commission of investigation and the terrible failure it revealed in how women and children were treated in institutions over many decades and to outline the Government's response. Before I begin, I pay tribute to all of the mothers and children who spent time in these institutions. I thank those who bravely gave their personal accounts to the commission. I know that the publication of this report has resurfaced deep stress and trauma for survivors. Following th…

I thank the Cathaoirleach. I understand I have ten minutes now and will have ten minutes at the end of next week's debate to respond as best I can to the various points made. I thank all Senators for their considered contributions. I will try to respond to some of the points in the order in which they were raised. The point made by my colleague, Senator Pauline O'Reilly, is a good place to start. The Government and I will be judged on our actions, on delivering the actions that we have set out in response to this r…

A number of Senators made that point about how the actions of the Government will be judged and I take it on board. Senator Pauline O'Reilly suggested that an apology may be forthcoming from Galway County Council, and I think that would be appropriate. The theme of the responsibility of local authorities in all of this was one on which Senator Boyhan also touched. Many of us here have served on local authorities and can think of the things we did and the functions we had around parks and planning. Those bodies were…

The publication of the report into the mother and baby homes marks another moment of truth for our State and for our people. Its publication is an occasion to acknowledge the profound wrong visited upon the Irish women and their children who were placed in these institutions and too often left with only grief as a companion. It is an occasion to acknowledge, as the Government, the role the State played in this and to apologise for that, and to acknowledge the neglect, the hurt caused, and, in many cases, the terrib…

I am grateful to you, Acting Chairman, and to all the Members of the Seanad for facilitating this debate. As Senators are aware, there was a similar debate in the Dáil a couple of weeks ago at which I spoke. It is great to see the need to extend the time for this debate because of the degree of interest among Senators. No matter what our political differences may be, I think we all agree that domestic, sexual and gender-based violence is a scourge that must be eliminated from society, and that those who have been t…

I thank Deputy O'Reilly and Sinn Féin for bringing forward their proposals for additional support for victims of domestic violence, which allows us an opportunity to debate and discuss this important issue. In the programme for Government agreed in June, the three Government parties called out the fact that in Ireland, we are experiencing an epidemic of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. In recent months, it has been incredibly positive to see the focus on the issue of domestic, sexual and gender-based vio…

Initially, it is important to state that stay-at-home parents are not excluded from the national childcare scheme. More than 44,000 children have benefited from that scheme to date and included in that are many children of stay-at-home parents. The NCS universal subsidy is up to €1,170 per year and is available to all families, including stay-at-home parents. An income-related subsidy is payable to children up to 15 years of age and the subsidy level is determined by the family's income and the child's age. The num…

I take seriously the points raised by the Deputy on this issue. That is one of the reasons we are taking this new initiative to make parents aware of the wide range of courses they can take. If they take courses, many of which are level 1, for two hours per week, they get the full 45 hours of childcare, which will resolve that particular issue. That was probably not well known. That is why we are working with SOLAS and with Intreo offices around the country to make that information available and known to parents. W…

I appreciate the Deputy's recognition of what we have been doing to increase knowledge about the sponsorship, both for parents and for some of the major organisations. We have to do more with Tusla to ensure that it understands, from the top of the organisation down. Tusla is a huge organisation. I will talk about the matter with the chief executive when I meet him and the chairperson for our quarterly review. I take the Deputy's point about after-school clubs and homework clubs. While I do not have anything clear …

I share the Deputy's commitment to ensuring that we have a well-paid workforce of childcare professionals. Improving access to high-quality and affordable early learning and childcare is a priority for me as Minister. I have spoken to both the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform about this on a number of occasions and our officials are engaging intensively to progress the matter. Children need and deserve the highest quality of early learning and care experiences and current staf…

There is sustained engagement between officials in my Department and representatives of SIPTU and of the new body, Childhood Services Ireland, which has been set up under the auspices of IBEC. I cannot give the Deputy a specific date today, although I would love to be in the position to do so. Nevertheless, there is sustained engagement and I hope that in a short number of months, we will have a clear indication of where we are going with that process. It is fundamental, which is why we are putting such efforts int…

I fully agree with the Deputy and am very aware of the pressures that childcare professionals are under, from the raw data we get from work such as the report the Deputy mentioned and from my engagement at a constituency level. I have talked to childcare professionals and heard how they feel that having gone through significant training and education to take up the role, they are not rewarded. They feel they do not have any career prospects. That is why we are trying to bring together the workforce development plan…

Following its five-year statutory inquiry, the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and Certain Related Matters delivered its final report to me on 30 October. I signalled previously that there would be a short time interval between receipt of the report and the separate arrangements for its publication. It is essential that publication is done in the right way with former residents being given the priority and support they deserve. In recent weeks, I have spoken to former residents and advocates …

Like the Deputy, I have been in touch with a significant number of survivors over the past number of weeks and I have heard the various views. There are various views out there. Talking to more and more of them as we get closer to Christmas - it has been a hard year for everybody - there is a real sense that this Christmas will be a difficult and unusual one. With the significance of this report, it was clear to me that publishing it close to Christmas would not be appropriate. That is why we are giving clarity tod…

The Deputy raises two important and separate issues there. On Bessborough, I am aware of the planning application. I have engaged with one of the leading survivor groups for survivors from Cork. I was looking at the planning application this morning. I am concerned about that planning application. I will not say more about it now but I am aware of what is happening there. As regards engagement and informing survivors, the survivors on the departmental mailing list were mailed this morning with information. The plan…

As I stated in response to the previous question, the commission of investigation delivered its final report to me on 30 October. I had said that there would be a short time interval between its receipt by my Department and its publication. I have now outlined the plans for publication. One of the matters undertaken was to refer the report of almost 3,000 pages to the Attorney General to ascertain whether there were any legal impediments to publication. The Attorney General is the legal adviser to the Government, a…