The programme for Government commits to supports for early childcare schemes but the reality is that the current schemes have failed to provide parents with affordable, accessible and meaningful childcare. Like housing, it would seem that the Government does not understand what affordable means for real people. We have the second lowest rate of expenditure on childcare in the OECD, for starters. The current scheme has glaring problems. It allows providers to opt out of the national childcare subsidy scheme. It has also allowed for massive increases since Covid and it has left many parents footing the total bill. In my constituency, in places such as Clancy Barracks, the local provision of childcare has just become impossible for providers such as Safari Childcare. The massive hike since Covid and the ability to opt out are causing real problems. When will we finally have a national uniform affordable public childcare system in this country?

During the Covid crisis, there have been difficulties in the childcare sector. No doubt there are specific problems in various centres in getting and retaining staff, etc., but the characteristic that seems to have stood out in the past year is how our childcare sector, even in times of real difficulty when transmission rates were high, was still there providing a service. That was critically important to the families involved, to the parents but also to the State in that it allowed us to maintain some sort of service that we need, not only for critical workers but for all parents. My colleague, the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, has a central role in this. There is no shortage of commitment for us to review, improve and enhance our childcare services across a range of different models. The circumstances of every child and every family are different. We must provide for that multiplicity. I will pass the Deputy's comments to Deputy O'Gorman, who is committed to providing the necessary services.