Last year, the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, said he wanted to halve childcare fees over two budgets. Given that he is the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, with the power to slash fees, there was an assumption that he was serious about that promise to parents. It started out well, with an average 25% reduction last year, but cracks have appeared in the commitment. In June, the Taoiseach cast doubts on whether fees would be cut by 50%. Last month, the Irish Examiner reported the Minister was also wavering on the pledge. Yesterday, the media were again being briefed that it was unlikely the full 50% cut would be delivered. Why do senior Ministers view promises to parents as non-binding? Instead of being focused on cutting fees, Ministers seem more concerned with trying to manage expectations down. Perhaps the Tánaiste could provide some clarity here today. A commitment was given last year. Does that commitment now lie in shreds?

Instead of reneging on promises to parents, the Government should be trying to do more. The Social Democrats have proposed a radical reform which would result in paid parental leave being extended for the first 12 months of a baby's life. This would mean an additional 12 weeks of paid leave, split between parents. Not only that, but we would increase the rate of maternity, paternity, parental and adoptive leave benefit from €262 per week to €350 per week. This is a measure that would make a huge difference to parents who can struggle financially when a new baby is born, especially if their employer does not top up maternity or paternity benefit.

New parents should be entirely focused on spending and enjoying this important time with their babies not worrying about bills. We know that about 45% of women do not receive a top-up from their employer when they take maternity leave. This can leave a huge hole in family finances at a very expensive time. Perhaps this explains why fewer than 50% of fathers take the meagre two weeks of paternity leave that they are entitled to.

Should I wait until the Tánaiste is finished talking?

I am listening to Deputy Whitmore.

When parents are dependent on two incomes to pay rent, a mortgage, soaring energy bills and all the costs associated with having a new baby, they decide that one parent must remain at work. This does not mean that fathers do not want to spend this important time with their newborns, they just cannot afford to.

The Government could do something about that. It could commit and do bigger and better for new parents. Will the Tánaiste honour the commitment to cut childcare fees by a further 25% next week? Will the Government adopt the Social Democrats' proposal to increase paid parental leave to 12 months and increase the benefit to €350 per week?

First, I would have thought the Deputy would have been more generous in her commentary in respect of the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and childcare generally. Without question, the last two to three years has witnessed a transformation in the scale of funding to childcare, in particular in terms of workers within the childcare sector, when the joint labour committee, JLC, agreement was arrived at, which was accepted by the social partners as a very significant breakthrough, as well as when one adds the fees freeze last year and the allocation which resulted in a 25% reduction. These are very significant progressive decisions the Government has taken and the Minister has initiated and pushed.

We are in a round of budget negotiations now. As Deputy Whitmore is aware, we have tabled an overall budget increase of some €5.5-odd billion in Government expenditure. I believe the Social Democrats have tabled an increase in spending of about €17.4 billion.

I am not talking about the budget in total, I am talking about the childcare element of it.

Through the Chair, the context is very important because there is a huge difference between €5 billion or €6 billion and €17 billion of expenditure, which is what the Social Democrats are proposing. The credibility of that needs examination. I accept that Deputy Whitmore's party is proposing tax hikes of €1 billion to pay for this, and a new tax rate of 43%. That is fair enough. Her party is saying it wants to tax much more to create revenue. What we are saying is that we want to prioritise childcare, which we have done so far in the last two budgets. We have taken a step-by-step approach, with a very significant improvement in terms of reducing fees. I am not going to pre-empt the budget negotiations between the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform. The bilateral meetings are under way. There is an overall budgetary framework, and the reason I mention that is because it is relevant in terms of the fact that all of the Departments have to be within a particular ceiling of expenditure. We believe that is sustainable and we also want to protect and build for the future of this country in terms of our approach to sustainable funding and finances.

Our commitment to progress in childcare stays but I am not getting into specifics today a week ahead of the budget. I think the Minister is still engaging with the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform on this and on other issues. We are conscious also that some services have come forward in respect of their perception of the application of the schemes that were introduced last year. The Minister is open to engaging and discussing with people, but by and large it is important to point out that the number of services that have closed so far in 2023 is lower than the numbers that closed in 2021 and 2022. I think we have made substantial progress. It is our commitment to continue to add to that progress and this budget should reflect that.

The Tánaiste can try to muddy the waters as much as he likes but the context that is important here is that the Minister made a commitment to reduce the cost of childcare for parents by 50%. That was the promise and that was the commitment. The question now for the Government is whether it is actually going to meet that commitment. That is the only question the Tánaiste had to answer,"Yes" or "No". In the budget next week will parents be able to rely on the commitment the Minister gave two years ago? Parents need to know what is going to happen next week. As well as that, they also need to know that they can trust these commitments. If a promise is made for a 50% reduction, that should be in place now. It should not be in negotiations and it should not be at the point where discussions are still happening between the Minister and the Minister for Finance. That commitment was made two years ago. The question for the Tánaiste is whether the Government is going to meet the commitment that it made to parents or whether it is going to leave them behind yet again.

I thank Deputy Whitmore. The time is up.

What we have seen is that over the lifetime of successive Governments, the role of parents has been forgotten-----

The time is up. I thank the Deputy.

-----and that the impact of having a new family is forgotten by the Government. Is the Government going to meet its commitment to reduce childcare costs by 50%? All the Tánaiste has to say is "Yes" or "No".

That is an outrageous assertion to make to say that the needs of children have been forgotten by this Government. It does not stack up at all across the full range of measures that we have taken in the last three budgets in respect of childcare more generally but also in terms of support of maternal care leave and so on. We have introduced a whole range of measures. It is not a credible-----

"Yes" or "No".

Through the Chair, I do not believe the assertion the Deputy just made is a fair or credible one.

Will the Government meets its commitments, "Yes" or "No"?

It defies any realistic understanding. In respect of childcare costs, over the last two years we have met our commitments.

The commitment was to 50%.

The more significant commitment is improving the status, pay and conditions of workers, in conjunction with the social partners in terms of a new JLC framework for people working in the childcare sector, which gives sustainability and continuity to the childcare sector in terms of a career pathway. That is key and crucial. In terms of the reduction in childcare costs, parents did feel the fee freeze last year in their pockets. They have said this to me. Probably one of the most significant cuts in childcare costs happened last year. I accept Deputy Whitmore's advocacy for this year.

There are budget negotiations under way. There is a week to go and there will be full clarity in respect of that next week.