FG Senator commits to providing more quality childcare options for local families

Fine Gael Dublin South West bye-election candidate, Senator Cáit Keane affirmed her commitment to providing affordable, high quality childcare for parents in the area at a Public Meeting in the Maldron Hotel last night. Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Dr. James Reilly TD, attended the meeting.

“I have been working for Early Years services and interventions since 1991,” Senator Keane told the meeting.

“I want to raise the quality of early years care and education for our children through increased training for staff. Childcare staff carry out such important work and I would like to see them properly supported. Every euro we spend on young people reaps an extraordinary reward and having the best trained staff in childcare settings makes a huge difference to children and to their parents, who can see the difference this makes to their children,” she stated.

“I also think inspections of childcare providers should be increased, but it’s vital that the inspectors are trained adequately to do this job,” she continued.

“Fine Gael’s creation of the first-ever Minister for Children and Youth Affairs at Cabinet level is testament to this Government’s commitment to the future of young people in this country. Much has been achieved over the past three years, including:
• The creation of Child and Family Agency, the most comprehensive reform of child protection, early intervention and family support services ever undertaken in Ireland,
• The Pre-School Quality Agenda — €4.5m to recruit additional pre-school inspectors; establish a pre-school mentoring service; and support staff training,
• The first ever Cabinet Minister for Children & Youth Affairs,
• The introduction of Child Protection legislation,
• The Funding of €30 million to tackle child poverty, among other achievements.

“The needs of families in Dublin South West have changed. Many parents are working and need to be able to trust that their child is being looking after in a safe, nurturing and happy environment. I was very happy to being Minister Reilly, the new Minister for Children and Youth Affairs to Tallaght to meet childcare experts and hear from them about their plans and concerns for the future. This whole area is a priority for me. Supporting childcare workers and families to provide the best start in life for our children will yield positive results for all of us down the road,” she concluded.