In the programme for Government, we made a commitment to reduce the cost of childcare for a child to €200 per month under the national childcare scheme. Along with hard-pressed families, I strongly welcomed this. A problem arises when providers pull out of the core funding scheme. In some cases, a provider of multiple facilities pulls one of its facilities out but keep others in for various reasons. As I have seen in my constituency, when that happens the cost of childcare can rise to up to €1,300 per month per child. It has risen to €1,256 in the case of one set of parents I am thinking of, who applied to 20 other providers seeking a place for their child. There are two issues here. First, what happens when providers pull out of the core funding scheme? When it works, it works really well and is very welcome. In more mature areas of Dublin that do not have community preschool or childcare facilities, the State need to step in, possibly through the local authorities. There is a commitment in the programme for Government to co-locate these childcare facilities. My principal question today concerns the fact that the withdrawal of childcare providers from core funding is having a severe impact. An increase of €1,200 or €1,300 per month could be used as a repayment on an extension or a down payment on a family holiday. These are the issues facing families.

Deputy Lahart is entirely correct. There are 21 commitments on childcare in the programme for Government, which is a sign of how seriously we are all taking this and what we are hearing from our constituencies. There is a need to look at how we move sequentially and together regarding all of this because fees are a big part of it. It is a second mortgage for many people so it is a really significant issue. It also involves places. Access to places is a challenge for everyone but it is a more pronounced challenge in some parts of the country. The Minister, Deputy Foley, is doing very good work on this. A mapping or advance planning unit in her Department is looking at where the need will be most acute if and when we start investing in more public and community facilities because we will start there. The point the Deputy is making is that there is a need to get the funding and fee model right. We can have a headline figure that says one thing but if people are actually withdrawing from the scheme, that is obviously having a more detrimental impact on the Deputy's constituents. The Deputy can expect a road map from the Minister in the coming weeks that will set out how we get from here to where we want to go on childcare.