I spoke earlier about the rising costs of childcare. A constituent has contacted me because, despite staff seeing a very welcome pay increase at the crèche her children attend, a sizable fee increase has been imposed upon parents. The concern she and many constituents, and others throughout the country, have is that crèches and childcare facilities may have signed up to the new core funding model without passing on any benefit to parents. Indeed, parents are now seeing prices and fees rise in childcare facilities.

Is the Government planning to make accessible to parents any list of those facilities that sign up to core funding? How is it proposed to link the core funding allocation with the reduction of costs to parents? Parents are hearing, even from the Tánaiste just now, about reductions in cost that will come about but we need to know when and how that will happen. When will parents actually feel the benefit? When will their children be able to access affordable childcare?

As far as I understand it, the deal for this year is that the Government will provide additional funding to childcare and early education providers. There are pay increases for the professionals who work in that area. In return, fees are supposed to be frozen for this year. Not everyone has signed up to that, but I understand the vast majority have. If there are instances of fees being increased, that is a problem and I am alarmed to hear it. If the Deputy can provide me or the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, with some more information, we would be interested to see it. There are providers that did not sign up to the deal but most did. In my view, it would be a breach if they took the extra money and their staff got the increase, but parents then also had to pay a fee increase because that was not the deal.