Cuirim fáilte roimh na scoláirí ó Chonamara atá anseo. Is deas an rud é go bhfuil daoine ag tabhairt cuairte ar Thithe an Oireachtais arís. Tá an costas maireachtála ag cur brú millteanach ar oibrithe agus teaghlaigh ar fud an Stáit ar bhonn laethúil. Ní chuireann aon rud béim níos mó ar an dúshlán atá ar theaghlaigh ná an costas uafásach a bhaineann le cúram leanaí. I go leor áiteanna agus do go leor daoine, cosnaíonn sé sin níos mó ná dara morgáiste ná cíos míosa. I mBaile Átha Cliath, tagann táillí cúraim leanaí isteach ag níos mó ná €1,200 in aghaidh na míosa de réir suirbhé a rinne Newstalk ar na mallaibh. Ar fud an Stáit, tá na costais sin os cionn €800 in aghaidh na míosa ar an mheán. Is é sin an táille do pháiste amháin. Is í an fhírinne nach féidir le tuismitheoirí fanacht níos faide agus go gcaithfear táillí cúraim leanaí a laghdú go suntasach. Níos moille inniu, foilseoidh Sinn Féin ár bpolasaí, ina leagfar amach go soiléir an dóigh inar féidir linn táillí cúraim leanaí a ghearradh do theaghlaigh. Is féidir é seo a dhéanamh trí mhaoiniú suntasach a thabhairt don earnáil mar mhalairt ar na taillí a laghdú dhá thrian.

The cost-of-living crisis is crippling workers and families throughout the State on a daily basis. Nothing highlights the challenges faced by households more than the outrageous cost of childcare. It is the equivalent to, or sometimes more than, a second mortgage or a month's rent for many people. In Dublin childcare fees come in at more than €1,200 per month per child according to a recent Newstalk survey. Statewide they are more than €800 per month on average.

Many parents, especially women, are forced out of the workforce as they struggle to afford to go back to work due to these crippling costs, if they are lucky enough in the first place to be able to secure a place for their child. It is a scandalous situation and one that needs to be rectified. The reality is that parents cannot wait any longer for actions to reduce childcare fees. Later today, Sinn Féin will publish its policy proposals to set out how we can cut childcare fees so they are affordable for the many families who are being fleeced at present. This can be done by providing significant additional funding to the sector in exchange for the providers cutting fees by two thirds. This is in the gift of the Government.

If the Minister listened to "Morning Ireland" this morning or yesterday he would have heard the struggles of parents, staff and providers. They are at their wits' end. Parents cannot afford the fees they are being asked to pay. Highly-skilled staff are struggling financially to remain in jobs they love. Services are equally under enormous financial pressure to remain viable. The system is broken.

Our proposals would cut fees for parents and ensure that providers received crucial funding to invest in their services. They would also ensure fairer pay for a highly-educated workforce. A total of €270 million is the additional public investment required. It would be the best money spent in any budget. It would be an important investment in our children's future. It would be a major step in helping families hit by the cost-of-living crisis. It needs to be done. It must be done. Families simply cannot keep waiting for the Government to take this crisis seriously. It is time to cut childcare fees by two thirds. Does the Minister agree with me that this year's budget is the opportune time to slash childcare fees to ensure families get a much-needed break from these ludicrous costs? Will he commit to the ambition that we have spelled out and want to achieve and that Sinn Féin would deliver, which is cutting fees by two thirds?

This year's budget and last year's budget were designed together. Anyone listening to "Morning Ireland" this morning would have heard the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, set out that there are real challenges but there are ways we can fix it. There are three challenges. The first is the economic sustainability of the providers. This is why last year's budget was important. In it the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, secured €221 million for providers on the understanding that there would not be an increase in fees, as provided from this September, with the transition fund in the meantime.

The second key issue is low pay for workers in the sector. There is a real issue in that we do not value enough the caring work in our State. As part of addressing this, the Labour Court has published the first draft employment regulation orders for early years educators and providers of school-aged childcare. I understand the joint labour committee for early years services will meet shortly, with a view to agreeing proposals for one or more employment regulation orders, EROs, to set minimum rates of pay for different roles in the sector.

The third aspect is the high cost for parents and the Deputy is correct. This is where this year's budget connects to the previous budget. By providing in the budget this September improvements to the national childcare scheme subsidies to parents, they will not be gobbled up by the providers who have already got the fund and agreed they will not increase fees. This is strategic thinking fixing a real problem and causing a huge improvement for households that are in real difficulty because of high inflation, caused mainly by international factors. We are delivering it in government two years in, in the same way we are delivering in a range of ways.

I welcome it if Sinn Féin is coming out today with similar proposals to support childcare. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, has been at it for the past year and a half, planning strategically and making sure the public money invested is spent well and goes to the parents and, more than anything else, goes to care for our children. We have to look at other areas. We have to look at children raised by parents in the home to make sure they are not disadvantaged with whatever we do in the budget. We must look at ways we leave the choice with parents who are best placed to decide the right way to go. There has been a transformative change in the past two years under the leadership of the Minister towards recognising that we need to pay people properly in the sector and that the operators were not in a viable economic model and needed support. The €221 million was not insignificant.

The third leg of this multi-annual approach, so that it works effectively, is increasing the subsidy to all parents this year as a way of reducing the cost of living. I am glad if Sinn Féin is looking at something similar or is similarly interested. We are delivering it and doing it in government. We will do so this September and did so last October. We will continue to review it through the Labour Court by improving the pay of workers. This is all real change. There will be a real benefit to parents throughout the country. I commend the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, on what he is doing.

We have been trying to get Governments to slash childcare fees for years. Let me put some of the facts here because the Minister spoke about delivering. In the past four years, half of which time he has been in government and Deputy O'Gorman has been the Minister responsible, childcare fees in Dublin have increased by 20%. This is what the Government is delivering. It is not delivering the cuts we need to see. I will put it very clearly. Sinn Féin has a very clear policy on this. We can cut childcare costs by two thirds for families. The Minister spoke about delivering no increases in September. We need to see substantial reductions. We need ambition. Families know. This is why they are spilling onto the airwaves on "Morning Ireland" or on local radio stations. They are being fleeced by the cost of childcare. It is the highest in Europe. It is one of the highest in the OECD. I ask the Minister again. We put forward a proposal to slash childcare costs by two thirds. The ambition is there in Sinn Féin. My question is whether the ambition is there in government to meet it. This can be done. The budget is the time to do it in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.

Sinn Féin in its documentation for budget 2021 committed to providing €167 million for childcare. The Minister's budget delivered €221 million, which is €60 million more.

You do not understand the budget process.

Please.

This is what actually happened.

No, it is not. You do not understand the process.

This is what was committed. It is not just this. It is also supporting parents and recognising the real importance of getting early years care right, right down to the early weeks. We increased paid parental leave from two weeks to seven weeks. We need to go further but this is a real practical change. The increase in subsidies in the budget will not be done until September but it will be significant. Every member of Government parties has said the same thing. We will invest in childcare in the budget.

They have been saying it for five years but the fees keep on going up.

Please, Deputy.

That is clear. The clever thing about it is that it was done in a way, because of what the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth did in last year's budget, that every penny of that goes to the parents. That is the real practical improvement.

Please, Deputy Doherty. You have asked your question and you got your answer.

My apologies, but not one penny went to the parents.