We have seen a big debate in recent weeks on the funding of childcare places. There is a realisation that a one-size-fits-all solution does not fit for every circumstance. One area that is of real concern to me is childcare services that operate in disadvantaged areas and have a very high number of sponsored places. Some 30%, 40% or 50% of their places could be on the sponsored place scheme. There are no parents' fees to top that up. Many of those are in my area, including Our Nursery in Ballymun. People from that service contacted me as they are worried about its financial viability. They do not want to cap the number of sponsored places. They exist to try to meet that need for young people. They want the Department to tailor the sponsored place scheme to reflect the cost of providing those sponsored places.

I appreciate the Deputy raising this issue. As he said, the national childcare scheme is a scheme of financial support to help parents with the cost of childcare. A component of the scheme is a sponsorship referral which makes special provision for vulnerable children. Officials in the Department are aware of the issues the Deputy has highlighted regarding the sponsored subsidy rates to date. The issues are currently being examined as part of an internal review of the sponsored subsidy. Any changes will be considered as part of the forthcoming budget. It is important to note that supports are available to all services with financial viability concerns though a case management process. I think the Deputy probably has taken the cases to the Department. The Department oversees the process with the local city and county childcare committees and Pobal, working together to assess early learning and childcare services experiencing difficulties and to provide support as necessary. In the overall context, we are committed to dealing with disadvantage, tackling it through high-quality early learning and childcare that is affordable and accessible.