This is a great opportunity to ask Deputy Varadkar a fundamental question. Where would he lead this country if he were Taoiseach? One aspect I wish to delve into is whether Deputy Varadkar is more Berlin or Boston in his attitude and thinking. A key example is where Deputy Varadkar lies on the issue of how we care for caring in this country.

We know now that Fine Gael does not want parents to care for their children in the home. We know this through the introduction of certain measures, including the combination of tax individualisation and supports for alternative care, something we also support, but also by the discrimination or lack of any support for parents who raise children in the home. In this way, Fine Gael is steering us in a Boston direction with all the downsides that brings.

Deputy Varadkar seemed to make it clear at the weekend that any further supports for parents in the home is out, that any supports for parents who might use childminders - again, they would be working in the home - is out and that any supports for grandparents who do that valuable and most important work is out as well.

No doubt, Deputy Varadkar will come back to us and say that the Government has just put in a paternity leave and benefit Bill. I very much welcome the fact that we now get two weeks parental benefit compared with getting nothing in the past. As part of this fundamental question of whether we go in the direction of Berlin or Boston, I wish to cite the fact that in Germany, as in 30 other European countries, people have potential access to up to three years of parental leave for either the father or mother. The Government maintains we are going all Scandinavian in the measures it is introducing, but I will outline the reality of what the Scandinavians do. In Norway, they provide paid parental benefit of up to 59 weeks. In Sweden they provide this leave for 480 days and have certain provisions to ensure the father takes up the leave. In Denmark, they take 52 weeks of parental leave. In case Deputy Varadkar makes the point that we have child benefit, those countries also have child benefit at €50 higher than our level. We are creating a system that amounts to going down the American corporation route to running our country. Would Deputy Varadkar have anything more to offer if he were leading Fine Gael in government, or is that it?

In fairness their next leader could be Deputy Paschal Donohoe.

Has Fine Gael locked us into a system that discriminates against parents in the home through our tax system and the provisions we have made? Does the Government have any plans for further improving parental leave or other measures that could help all parents equally and in such a way that the State does not determine or decide how people raise their children? Are these Government plans in the interests of the corporation rather than the interests of the children? That is what Fine Gael is doing at present.

Thank you, Deputy Ryan. I do not think that we can focus on the leadership of any particular party, but certainly the child care issue is critical.

We can hear from Deputy Coveney next week and the Tánaiste the week after.

Deputy Varadkar, on the child care issue, please.

I am happy to talk about the issues. I think that distinction was created by Mary Harney, someone I admire very much individually and as a politician. I have always taken the view that the attempt to create a distinction between a vision of Boston on the one hand and Berlin on the other to be somewhat bogus and a little outdated. It is somewhat outdated in many ways that the Green Party is still thinking in that way. There is a serious difference between a Christian Democrat Berlin and a Social Democrat Berlin, just as there can be a major difference between a Boston run by Republicans and a Boston run by Democrats.

I am unsure whether Deputy Ryan knows much about American companies, but I had the pleasure to visit Facebook recently, which is an American company that provides four months paid paternal leave to all employees. That is quite extraordinary and is very much to be welcomed. This is an American company that no doubt Deputy Ryan would like to characterise as something rather different.

Our view, as a Government, now and for the future, is that it is the role of Government to support families and to enable them, as much as possible, to make the best choices for themselves, their families and their children. How do we make that real? What policy decisions have we taken to show we are serious about that? First, we have introduced the second year of free preschool. That saves parents, on average, €4,000 per child per year. As Deputy Ryan acknowledged, we have introduced paid paternity leave and paternity benefit for the first time. That started in September and the uptake from those measures has been rather encouraging.

I will be publishing those statistics soon. It is our intention to extend that and provide an additional two weeks of parental leave which can be shared by either parent. That requires legislation and funding but we have made a commitment to do that. We have also brought in free general practitioner care for children younger than six years and we intend to extend that to all children younger than 18. In the budget one of the increases that perhaps went unnoticed was an increase in maternity benefit and paternity benefit. As the Deputy is aware, we are going to bring in a radical and new programme to subsidise the cost of child care, for all parents, for young children and for parents, subject to a means test, of older children.

We have also increased the home carer’s tax credit which was not acknowledged by Deputy Ryan. There is a tax credit for home caring parents worth €1,000 a year which allows income up to €5,000 to be sheltered from any taxation. That was increased by €100 or 10% in the budget and that increase takes effect in January, long before the child care measures in September. We are supporting the home caring parents first, before the child care measure comes in. As the Minister for Finance has indicated it is our view that in the coming years, and I am sure this would be true for anybody in Fine Gael, should the economy allow it, we would continue to increase the home care tax credit to recognise the value of parenting at home and we will continue to expand the child care subsidies to support families to make the decision to go for one or two incomes should they choose to do so.

There is a difference between Boston and Berlin so it is perfectly valid to use that in a question because in Boston, as in the rest of the United States, there is no statutory right to leave to help parents, whereas there is in Germany and Scandinavian countries. The Minister gave me no answer as to what fundamentally he would do differently. He seems to agree with the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Zappone, about the measures the Government has announced, which absolutely discriminate at scale against parents who decide that their best approach, whatever way, is to raise children at home. Fine Gael seems to have nothing for that. It gave a €100 increase in the tax credit. The total value of that is approximately €7 million as set out in the budget. The Government has given four times as much for sheep welfare as for the welfare of those parents raising children at home. That speaks about where the Minister stands. I hear the Minister promise possible increases in that tax credit. I would like to see the provisions that are given to one parent given to all. Let us treat parents equally, as they do in Scandinavia. The Minister is not going in that direction, he is going in the Boston direction. That is a mistake and it is wrong. I would oppose the Minister’s leadership of Fine Gael if that is the direction he wants to go in. I would be interested in what the people behind him think.

Is there going to be a vote?

How will they vote?

Is Deputy Ryan a member of two parties?

What about Frances?

I hate to disappoint Deputy Ryan but he would need to be a member of Fine Gael in good standing for at least two years before he had an opportunity to vote on that question.

He does not appear to be contemplating it.

I would buy Deputy Ryan a pizza if he were.

He is doing a head count.

It could well be two years or more so perhaps he will have the opportunity to join up. I understand the Minister, Deputy Zappone, is from neither Boston nor Berlin but from Seattle. Leaving that aside, I have a radical suggestion for Deputy Ryan, rather than try to ape systems in other countries, whether Boston, Berlin or the Nordic countries, we should strive to take the best from Boston, Berlin and the Nordic countries and maybe even the best from Singapore and other places around the world-----

The idea for Seanad abolition came from Singapore.

-----and design a vision for Ireland that suits our culture and aspirations. The aspiration of this Government is to support families by doing the things I have mentioned already, expanding maternity, paternity and parental leave-----

Not for all families.

-----by reducing the cost of health care and education for children and supporting stay at home parents through the home care tax credit, child benefit and subsidising child care. We do not want to force Irish people and families to make a choice between Boston and Berlin, we want to build the best model for everyone.

That was a reasonably good audition.