Will the Minister of State write to An Bord Pleanála to state that the SPPR contains no minimum requirement? The Minister of State is confirming to the House that he will do that.

Will the Minister of State certainly do that?

I specifically request that the Minister of State writes to An Bord Pleanála to state that there are no minimum density requirements-----

-----contained within the SPPR or the sustainable residential developments guidelines.

I thank the Minister of State.

May I take this opportunity to thank the Minister for all the work she has done over the years? I will be sorry to see her go and wish her all the best in the future. With all the talk of Estimates, once again it is a 96-page document which we received quite late yesterday. Given that we are in the middle of a pandemic and we are not going to be able to debate it, the Regional Independent Group and myself will support it. There are some anomalies which I want to address, however, with the Department of Employment A…

They are less than 1% of the social welfare recipients.

I wish the Minister well in her future, whatever that may be. I am sure it will be such that we will come across one another again. Throughout this crisis many parents and families in Wexford have expressed to me just how they truly miss daily interactions with their childcare centres. They have expressed huge regard and respect for the profession, valuing these relationships as an integral part of their family. The failure of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs to provide a set of clear guidelines such th…

Can the Minister note the urgency?

I thank the Minister. I must beg to differ with her on an issue already broached with her by some of my colleagues, namely, the advisory group and the acceptance of the Federation of Early Childhood Providers. The issue here is that none of my Wexford constituent providers was contacted in regard to who should join the advisory group. The Minister will find that Seas Suas which, I am informed, has 103 members is partaking in the advisory group. Leaving out the federation which represents some 1,400 members will not…

The Federation of Early Childhood Providers.

I do not accept what the Minister is saying about a subset of advisers.

What the Minister said originally was that the sector picked the advisory group. She is now telling us that the advisory group was picked from some section that was already there advising Government, which means the Federation of Early Childhood Providers was never considered in the first place. What is important and what I would like the Minister to note, particularly on behalf of providers in Wexford, is that there are 1,400 members of the federation. If the Minister wants her plan to reflect the requirements and…

In that case, I would like the Minister, for transparency, to commit to providing the actual criteria that were required for being a member of the advisory group. Will she commit to that?

Even if the Minister did not, her Department would have done so.

I will have to write to the Minister to seek to have this matter clarified in writing. There certainly seems to be some consternation about why this particular group is being excluded. Early childcare providers and educators play an important role in children's development and provide valuable support for families and young children, particularly those in the access and inclusion model, AIM, support scheme. Our most vulnerable children depend on these services but were effectively abandoned by the State when fundin…

I am referring to the accession and inclusion model provision, in respect of which the contracts were pulled a week after closure.

I thank the Minister. The many Wexford childcare providers I have been in touch with have all voiced their concern as to the overbearing administration of the multiple-agency inspection framework. A bigger concern is the speculation that the Department of Children and Youth Affairs may be abolished by a new Government at a time when the sector requires a comprehensive streamlining of the inspection framework. Will the Minister inform the House of the Department's intentions regarding a streamlined process, if and w…

The Minister might be able to inform me of what that is, if I send her correspondence.

I concur with several issues raised by Deputy Howlin. I do not wish to repeat them, but I have sent correspondence to the Department and I would be happy if the Minister replies in writing. I will now talk about Government formation talks taking place between Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party. The incoming Government will face major challenges as a result of Covid-19 and its consequences. Whatever sensible short-term funding is needed to address resulting issues should be provided. Post Covid-19, the Gover…