The insurance crisis is having its most immediate and telling impact on the childcare sector. Up to 1,300 providers have been left without insurance cover following a letter from their broker, Padraic Smith, who said that he had spent the past six months trying to find alternative insurers through intermediaries and so on. Providers now have only weeks to find an alternative. Many quotes they have received represent a dramatic increase on their existing premiums, from €1,500 to €4,500 in some cases and in others from €3,500 to €9,000. Without question, this is causing real stress and anxiety not just for providers but also for many parents who simply will not be in a position to find alternative places, as was revealed on last evening's edition of "Prime Time". The sector is in crisis for a number of reasons. There is a shortage of places, the goal posts relating to regulatory burdens have been changed and there are questions regarding the credibility of the career pathways for many working in childcare. It must now have to deal with what is potentially an existential insurance crisis. The Government's response to date has been very confusing. It was slow off the mark and the degree to which it seems to have been caught by surprise is incredible. Different Minsters have also been dismissive. Yesterday, the Taoiseach stated that childcare services are mostly private businesses and are expected to cover their costs by the income they receive, and that seemed to be it. Equally, the Taoiseach indicated that the Department did not know about this until 6 December. I find that extraordinary, particularly in view of the fact that the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, said that he was aware of the impact on various sectors in June. Mr. Peter Boland of the Alliance for Insurance Reform went before the joint committee in April and told it that many sectors, including that relating to childcare, faced existential crises in the context of insurance. I would like clarity on when the Government discovered all of this.

This morning, the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy D'Arcy, stated that the new, increased rates were essentially reasonable and that the childcare providers should get on with it and take them on board. He stated that what is involved would amount to €60 per child, which he said should be reasonable. He must know that the cost of childcare in Ireland is much higher than the OECD average in terms of its impact on net income. Affordability is a big issue and an additional cost on parents is not sustainable. The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Zappone, stated that she was shocked and stunned and indicated that something would have to be done. Deputy Darragh O'Brien put forward a constructive solution in respect of this matter to the Minister in April whereby any childcare provider that operates an early childhood care and education, ECCE, scheme would be able to access insurance via, for example, IPB Insurance, which is capitalised to the tune of €1.5 billion and has €600 million in a retained income. An approach like that or else a subvention will be required to resolve this matter. Why was the Government so unaware of the issue of insurance in the childcare sector? The Taoiseach must be concerned about that lack of awareness. What does he intend to do to ensure that crèches can stay open in 2020?

I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very important issue at the moment. Many parents are worried their crèche or childcare provider might not be open in the new year and that they may see a steep increase in fees in the new year. The Government is working very hard to make sure neither of those scenarios arise. I met the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Zappone, and her Secretary General yesterday to discuss a number of matters relating to children and youth affairs and this was one of them. We are working together with the Minister of State, Deputy D'Arcy, the industry and others to make sure we have a solution.

The vast majority of childcare providers, close to 100%, are now registered for next year so people can be given the reassurance they will not find out when they go to their crèche or childcare provider in the early new year after the holidays that they are not open. They will be open. That is not to say there will not difficulties finding insurance in the next few weeks. As things stand, only one underwriter, Allianz, is currently providing insurance to childcare providers following the exit of Ironshore from the market. Up to 1,300 childcare providers have been affected by Ironshore's exit, with most of their policies due to expire on 31 December. Allianz, through its broker, Arachas, has stated it is willing to consider quotes for all affected services. Quotes are being processed within 24 hours of applications in the vast majority of cases. As of today, the majority of the providers impacted by Ironshore - 869 of 1,300 - have been given quotes. The balance can be processed within a short timeframe and, therefore, reports of thousands or even hundreds of the services closing appear to be inaccurate. There may be a very small number of high-risk services which may not receive quotations.

Providers are reporting increases in premiums that range from 10% to significantly higher than that, but it is understood the majority of services will experience an increase at the lower end. It is worth pointing out that the provider that is exiting the market had been offering insurance at much lower rates. The average cost of insurance from Allianz, the insurer that is staying in the market, for full-time childcare is €60 per annum per child and the average cost for sessional services, such as the early childhood care and education, ECCE, scheme, is €25 per annum per child. While parents pay an awful lot in childcare fees in Ireland, only a very small proportion of it is required to cover insurance, roughly €60 a year on average and less is some cases.

The insurer has said that premiums of over €450 per annum can be paid monthly by direct debt, reducing the immediate impact on providers' cashflow in the new year. This is an issue we are seized of and on which we are working, and I am confident that parents, when they bring their children back to their crèche or childcare provider in the new year, will find the crèche or childcare facility will be open.

I asked the Taoiseach why the Government was caught so unawares and why the Minister expressed the view that she was shocked and stunned at what was transpiring, given that in June 2019, the Minister for Finance, when asked a question regarding difficulties crèches were having in accessing insurance, said: "I am very conscious of the difficulties being experienced as a result of the cost and availability of insurance to certain types of businesses." The Government must have been aware that this was a looming crisis within the childcare sector. The response has been very lethargic since then. Likewise, Peter Boland of the Alliance for Insurance Reform raised an existential crisis facing sectors, including the childcare sector, at the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach in April 2019.

What the Taoiseach seems to have said here this morning is that everything will work out fine and there will be no difficulties. Is that what he is saying or does he acknowledge that many crèches will be facing significantly higher insurance costs as a result of the exit of one insurer from the market? The OECD average for childcare costs is 12.6% of net family income. In Ireland, it is 27.4% so there is a real affordability and cost issue in Ireland. The additional costs will find their way to the parents and they will have to pay the additional childcare fees.

Can the Taoiseach explain why the Government seems to have been caught so unawares? He has said the Government was working behind the scenes. Can he bring more clarity to what that means in terms of helping crèches to ensure their viability and continuance into 2020?

I thank the Deputy for those questions. I do not agree with his assessment. We have all been aware for a very long time that there is a general issue regarding the cost of employers' liability and public liability insurance. We set up an interdepartmental working group to deal with those issues a very long time ago and we have been implementing its recommendations as recently as yesterday, with the establishment of the Judicial Council.

In relation to the specific issue of Ironshore pulling out of the market, I only became aware of that in the last couple of weeks and I think it is the same for others. As to where we are now, one insurer, Allianz, is still in the market. It is a good and reliable insurer, which has been there for a very long time. It is willing to offer quotes to those childcare providers which were insured with Ironshore previously at an average rate of roughly €60 per child. Ironshore was offering very low cost insurance. Allianz offers insurance at a premium of about €60 per child per year. Work is ongoing to see if we can get another insurer into the market. As good as Allianz is, it would be better if there were two or three insurers and a degree of competition.

In terms of the general issue of affordability, the Government absolutely acknowledges that the cost of childcare is a huge burden on very many families. More so than any other Government in the history of the State, we have been active in improving that. We brought in two years of guaranteed preschool provision for children.

One year of preschool provision was in place already.

We have also bought in the national childcare scheme, which means increased subsidies for hundreds of thousands of children and also that people on middle incomes will qualify for the first time. We brought in increased and longer maternity benefit, parental benefit and paternity benefit for the first time. This is very much a Government that is building a society with the family at its centre and that is trying to make life easier for families.

We all agree that manners need to be put on the insurance industry in this country. Insurance companies have been exposed for charging customers extortionate premiums, despite the fact that claims have fallen significantly and those same companies' profits continue to soar. There was general outrage when motorists discovered the extent to which they were being ripped off. There is an ongoing issue for every festival, playground, community organisation and GAA club with their insurance costs but now, disgracefully, our childcare services have fallen prey to the same greedy arrogant insurance industry.

At the core of this problem is the fact that we rely on private provision for early childhood education and for childcare. That is the nub of it. The root of this problem is that childcare providers have no option but to rely on the vagaries of market forces and market providers which can decide whether they will open their doors. All of that needs to change and it is my strong belief that we need to move towards making early childhood education and care a public service. That is the answer to this but that will take considerable work. However, in the here and now, all those childcare providers, parents and childcare workers - who not alone do not have a structured career pathway, as Deputy Micheál Martin would have it, but are very low-paid, are in very insecure work and, for the most part, are women - want to know that the doors of the crèches will open in January. I am alarmed to hear the Taoiseach, on the one hand, speculate about the concern - it is actually panic - that families are feeling about all of this and, on the other hand, move to give a reassurance that registration of these crèches is in order and that they will open in January. The fact is if they do not have insurance cover, they will not be opening in January. The Taoiseach speculates that the new quotations and premiums will be reasonable but that is not the evidence we have heard from any number of providers. One in Tallaght, for example, with which Deputy Crowe has been working, has had a €1,000 hike in its premium. It provides for ten children, one of whom has special or additional needs. Other premium hikes range from €600 to €2,800. These are breathtaking additional costs and if they can be met by the provider, which is not a certainty, they will come out of the pocket of parents.

We need Government intervention. The Taoiseach needs to give solid assurances to parents, childcare workers and providers that they will be able to operate in January. That means the Government has to step in.

Simply to recommend to those families that they cross their fingers and hope the market will be good to them is frankly not good enough.

I thank the Deputy. I am not entirely sure what she means by stepping in, but perhaps in her further reply she can outline exactly what she would do if she was in my position. Whether it is a public provider or private provider, insurance is still needed, and whether it is public or private, a provider can still be sued. That applies to schools, hospitals and community centres. Anybody is at risk of being sued and almost any concern needs insurance, whether it is public or private. There is still an insurer in the market, namely Allianz SE. That insurer is willing to offer cover to crèches and childcare facilities at an average rate of €60 per child per year.

That is called a monopoly.

Ironshore had been offering very low-cost insurance to some providers. That firm is now out of the market. Allianz is still there, offering insurance to childcare providers at an average cost of €60 per child per year. It has already offered insurance to 869 of the 1,300 providers formerly covered by Ironshore, and is willing to make offers to others within 24 hours. I am confident that this situation is under control and will be resolved. I totally understand that parents are worried, as I acknowledged earlier. As the Deputy said, some of them may even be panicking. It is our job not to cause them to panic or add further worry. That is why we should be factual in our comments and not add to parents' concern, anxiety and worry at this time of year. This is being dealt with.

They have concern and anxiety. That is the problem.

Neither I nor previous contributors have said anything that is not factual. The facts of the matter are that very many childcare providers believe they will not be able to meet additional insurance costs and therefore may not be in a position to open their doors in January. They are the only facts we need to face. The last thing I want to do is cause panic or anxiety to any parent or childcare worker. Therefore, they have to have a more concrete response from the Government rather than the Taoiseach, with the greatest of respect to him, sounding like an advertisement for Allianz and say what a great provider it is. Perhaps it is, and perhaps its premiums will be reasonable, but that is a considerable gamble. It is a considerable statement for the Head of Government to make given what we know about insurance costs and the behaviour of insurance companies in this State.

The Taoiseach asked me what he needs to do. He needs to give assurance to providers, parents and childcare workers that where those premiums are extortionate or cannot be met, the State will step in on an interim, one-off basis to assist those providers. That is not ideal, but as I said earlier, it is not ideal that we regard childcare and early years education as a matter for the private market. We need to fix that, but in the here and now the absolute priority is that people have complete assurance that their children will have a place in care in January and childcare workers will have jobs to go to. That is how serious this is. I will ask directly. In the event that Allianz does not meet the Taoiseach's high expectations and the premiums cannot be met by providers, will the State step in with a subvention or emergency fund to make sure the doors open in January?

I took my eye off the clock. I thought the Deputies would remind me.

I am grateful that the Deputy has at least made a suggestion, but I contend that it is a rather reckless one. If an insurer is unable to provide cover for a particular facility, be it a crèche, a childcare provider or anything else, there may be a good reason for that. There may be a very high risk in insuring it, for a particular reason. For the State to wander in blindly, no questions asked, and offer to cover the bills of a private company or even a public body would be an entirely reckless thing to do.

I am talking about costs.

This has been coming for a while.

It shows exactly why Sinn Féin cannot be trusted by the taxpayer to be in charge of the public purse.