Barry Ward
Dún Laoghaire · Fine Gael · Ireland
“I acknowledge all of the factors the Minister of State set out. I welcome them all and it is really important that we spread that message. The second part of the Minister of State's response is really important and that is the EU jobs part. I would not necessarily limit it just to the European Union.”
“Let us not abdicate responsibility for politically unpopular decisions, which are still the right decisions, made at European level with the involvement of Irish people.”
“There is little doubt about the positivity we associate with membership of the European Union. Some 82% of Irish people favour membership of the European Union, the highest rate of approval of any European state.”
“It is really important, not from the point of view of influence but from the point of view of presence, that there are Irish people around the table when decisions are being made so that the Irish perspective is understood and heard.”
“To look at it from a purely economic standpoint, the value of being part of the Single Market is enormous. In 1973, we imported €340 million more in goods than we exported. In recent times, we have had an export surplus. We have exported more than €53 billion more than we have imported.”
“As we hold the Presidency of the Council of the EU and are at the heart of Europe, leading the agenda and setting the tone in respect of our priorities during the Presidency, what is the Government doing to communicate to Irish people just how lucky we are to be part of the European Union?”
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“I acknowledge the work being done and the funding that has been made available. I agree with what the Minister said about the value of men's sheds and women's sheds. I do not really understand why we cannot put a multi-annual framework in place for funding for them. It would give them huge assistance in delivering and providing the services they do, which, we can all agree, are really positive for communities all over this country. I accept what the Minister has said about the lack of a national organisation or association for women's sheds. However, could the same level of money given to the Irish Men's Sheds Association not be provided over a series of years in the way we do in so many other areas from budget to budget, rather than asking them to depend from year to year on what they might be able to rely on?”
“Tá ceist agam ná faoi na men's sheds agus an t-airgead atá curtha ar fáil dóibh. I ask about the value of multi-annual funding for men's sheds to give them certainty with regard to what they can do year on year, rather than depending on budget-to-budget and year-to-year decisions on funding. It would give them much greater certainty regarding what they can and cannot do and I would be grateful if the Minister could address that issue.”
“Mary's Boys National School is between €4,000 and €6,000 less well off every year because of this change. The bean counter within the Department who has done this has made a mistake or has wilfully ignored the facts of the matter. Will the Minister of State please commit to me that the Department will examine this again, review it and be honest about the matter in terms of looking at what the actual end costs for St. Mary's Boys School are? If the Department can establish that the school has been left less well off than it was before this review - I am confident that it will be able to do so - I ask it to reinstate the ancillary grant in order that it can pay for what it needs to pay for.”
“Therefore, it had money left over that it used to pay for important goods and services in the school. It is now left without that money because the Department has decided the school was paying the secretaries all year round when, in fact, it was not. This is not some kind of smoke and mirrors. The school is not trying to hide anything. It published properly audited accounts. I met Mr. Noel Scully, the principal, who is doing an excellent job, and Mr. Conor Gahan, the treasurer. They have put together accounts that show this very clearly, so whatever review the Department has carried out is incorrect because it has come to a conclusion that leaves the school worse off. All the policies in the world can state that this should not impact on the school's financial position, but it has impacted on the school's financial position. St.”
“I thank the Minister of State, to a point. An awful lot in that response is not relevant to this particular school. What made my blood boil, to be perfectly honest, was when the Minister of State said, "Schools should be in no way disadvantaged by this [meaning the changes in respect of the secretaries' payment] as the grant is reduced only by the amount they previously paid to their secretaries." He spoke about a review in respect of this particular school in which the Department decided that the amount paid to the secretaries was greater than the level of the grant that was given, and, therefore, the grant is being reduced to nil. The first thing I said when introducing this Topical Issue was that that was not the case. This school is being impacted by these changes. It was paying less to the secretaries than the ancillary grant.”
“It is something that the Department can address by changing the calculation and acknowledging that schools did not pay people 12 months per year and there were two months during the summer when school secretaries were not paid out of those ancillary grants, and, therefore, to remove them is both arbitrary and unfair. I hope the Minister of State can acknowledge that and we can make some progress towards fixing the problem.”
“Instead of saying we are cutting out that grant, let us acknowledge the reality of what was happening and the way in which secretaries were paid. That should also be reflected in the reality of the way in which the ancillary grant is paid. I welcome the increase in the capitation grant from €224 to €270 per child enrolled. That is very welcome. Let us be clear, however, that it is not enough. Schools need that money and that increase because of the increase in all the costs that come with running a school. Let us not penalise them by hitting the ancillary grant. I ask the Minister of State in the first instance to acknowledge the fact that this calculation by the Department is perverse, incorrect and unfairly reflects the needs of the schools.”
“I supported them totally in their call to be put onto the payroll of the Department and to have the same terms and conditions in respect of pensions, sick leave and all the other employment benefits that teachers in schools have. They are entitled to those and I hope the workings of the WRC will result in a positive outcome in that regard. You cannot have a desire to solve that problem and also expect the schools and the communities they serve to be less well-off as a result. The Department needs to take account of the fact that the cutting of the ancillary grants is an unfair measure that disadvantages schools, which are doing a good job for communities. They are doing their level best on pretty tight budgets. St. Mary's Boys National School serves 170-odd boys. Let us do something that helps them.”
“Mary's Boys National School but it also applies in other schools. The difficulty is that the Department has made a calculation which assumes that those school secretaries were paid all year round, 12 months per year when, in fact, very often they were part-time workers who were not paid in July and August. The calculation takes into account money that was available to the school and was used to pay for important things, including electricity, insurance, heating and lighting. The Department decided to cut that out. St. Mary's Boys National School reckons it is at a loss of between €4,000 and €6,000 on the basis it would not have been paying those people in July and August. The Department may well say, "Tough", but I do not think that is the right answer. I welcome the resolution of the issue with the caretakers and secretaries.”
“I raise an issue relating to ancillary grants for schools. This affects many schools in my area. Last week, I met the principal and treasurer of St. Mary's Boys National School in Booterstown. It is by any measure a fantastic local parish school. It provides a service for the community and does so in a way that contributes much to provide for special educational needs and children from the IPAS centre in Blackrock. It does a good job and does it well. It gets an ancillary grant, as the Minister of State will be aware, as many schools do. That grant was used in the past to pay secretaries and caretakers. Since the secretaries, for example, were put onto the payroll of the Department, a decision has been made that schools do not need the same ancillary grant. A difficulty arises here. I raise this issue specifically in relation to St.”
“Is fada an t-am atáimid ag labhairt le heagraíochtaí cosúil le Conradh na Gaeilge agus na daoine atá i bhfabhar na Gaeilge inár gceantair ar fud na tíre. Tá níos mó ná €41 milliún ar fáil acu anois agus tá sé sin thar a bheith tábhachtach. Caithfimid níos mó airgid a chur ar fáil don Ghaeloideachas. Tá díomá orm a rá nach bhfuil ach dhá Ghaelscoil i mo Dháilcheantar féin i nDún Laoghaire, cé go bhfuil a lán daoine a labhraíonn Gaeilge sa bhaile agus gach lá. Caithfimid níos mó roghanna a chur ar fáil do dhaoine gur mhaith leo a bpáistí a chur i nGaeloideachas, bíodh sin i nGaelscoileanna nó Gaelcholáistí. Tá súil agam go bhfuilimid chun roinnt oibre a dhéanamh ar an ábhar sin.”
“I think of two restaurants in my own area in Blackrock. The first is Big Mike’s, which was a well-known restaurant in Blackrock shopping centre but closed its doors last month. It was very successful on the face of it but just could not survive in the economic climate. The second was a much smaller but really high-quality Italian restaurant in Deansgrange called Fellini’s. Emila and Paolo, who ran that family restaurant, employing local people and providing a fabulous service, have also closed their doors and that is regrettable. They would have benefited from the 9% VAT rate. It is exactly those types of businesses that we are trying to safeguard. Going back to the rest of the sandwich, gabhaim buíochas leis an Rialtas as ucht an mhéid airgid atá curtha isteach aige sa Ghaeilge.”
“One could pick a metric - I think turnover is probably the most reasonable - and decide that if a company's turnover is higher than a certain level, it will not get a rebate, but a rebate scheme would be put in place to give back to small businesses with turnover below that rate the VAT the company would have saved had the rate been reduced to 9%. In that way, we would keep the VAT rate at 13.5% but there would a rebate scheme for those businesses which need it. I am not saying the larger businesses should close down or that the large hotel groups which fund our tourism industry and support people coming to every corner of this country should be closed; I am just saying they do not need the 9% VAT rate to survive and we should have been targeting the 9% VAT campaign towards those businesses which genuinely do need it.”
“What I am saying is we should be targeting it at those businesses which do need it. Every one of us in this room has small cafés, small restaurants and pubs in our constituencies which desperately need this support, and that is why I welcome the move, but I would much rather it to have been targeted at those businesses. I acknowledge that there cannot be differentiated tax rates for different businesses within the sector and there is no legitimate basis for doing that, but we could have put in place through this budget a scheme that would give a VAT rebate to companies or entities that exist in a particular space in the economy.”
“It is really important to support small indigenous industries that occupy space in every town, village and corner of this country. There are over 20,000 restaurants, hotels and pubs in this country which need the support of the reduction in the VAT rate. I support it but I do not support it for large companies or companies that do not need it. I know there have been a lot of great soundbites from the Opposition as to where that lies. That is good politics but it is not necessarily good budgeting. I have argued for a long time that we need a scheme that is actually targeted at those who need it. There is no point in giving a reduction to a 9% VAT rate to McDonald's, Burger King, Costa, Starbucks and the big coffee chains. They do not need it. I am not saying they should close down.”
“I want to particularly want to mention the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, who has consistently ensured that we are putting together a fund which will look after us in the future not just for economic shocks that are unforeseen but which we know are coming all the same, but specifically for the pension cliff that is coming. We know we are moving towards a situation with an ageing population where more people are going to be pensioners and fewer people will be working, drawing a wage and funding the expense that is the pension scheme. We need to make sure we are in a position to look after people who have retired and are just as entitled to have a good quality of living as the rest of us. Therefore I welcome the fact that more money has been put aside for those. The next part of the sandwich is about the 9% VAT rate. I support the 9% rate.”
“It is a very significant discrepancy between the two and I felt it was time to bring us back to where we had been pre-crash, at the €0.5 million threshold for inheritance directly by families because at the moment there is a situation in areas like Dún Laoghaire where families have to sell the family home because they cannot afford to pay that inheritance tax. I would have liked to have seen something done in that area. I also want to acknowledge the campaign to support people who do not have children. I note that nothing has been done in that area either. This is a double-decker sandwich. The next thing I want to come to relates to the rainy day funds. One of the things we overlook very often in this polity is praise for future planning. It is one of the things this Government has been really good about.”
“This is an area that allows criminal justice to function, so I welcome that there will be full restoration during the year. That is a positive step. The next bit of the sandwich is inheritance tax. I am really disappointed that nothing has been done about that. I have raise this issue previously, particularly in relation to my constituency. In Dún Laoghaire and much of Dublin, because of the cost of houses, families are massively disadvantaged relative to their cousins in areas outside Dublin, where property prices are lower.”
“It is said that these things should always be done like sandwiches, so I have both criticism to make and praise to give. First, I acknowledge what Deputy Jim O'Callaghan has done as Minister for justice. I have long campaigned for the restoration of criminal legal aid rates. It has been a myopic approach by the Department and my Government not to restore them. Criminal barristers and solicitors appear to have been the last sector not to have rates restored after the FEMPI cuts that reduced payment for providing criminal legal aid to a very small amount, which has meant that people are not going into that area of law. Some will say they do not care about that, because the only people who care about criminal legal aid are criminals and lawyers. Not everyone makes a distinction between the two categories, but it is an important distinction.”
“I appreciate the work that is being done. It is hugely positive and benefits us all, albeit many of us indirectly. One of the issues with grants, particularly where they are means-tested, is that when they work and the person who is a recipient of that grant makes more money or has more resources available to him or her, they then fall outside the criteria if it is means-tested. This applies across the board in relation to grants for people with disabilities. The reality is that even if they have more money or resources available to them, they still have the same disability, challenge and mountain to overcome. It is counterproductive to have a situation where a means-tested grant is taken away from somebody who has achieved some success in relation to the very challenges they are trying to overcome.”
“Those trains are important for people like artists, as the Minister mentioned, to get to different venues and places where they are going to work. That has to be part of the scheme as well. The cross-departmental element is crucial to make sure it is effective and gives people with disabilities what they need.”
“I particularly welcome what the Minister said about liaising with other Departments. The cross-departmental nature of this funding is hugely important. It is not just the Minister's Department but also the Department of Health, the Department of Transport and the Department of Children, Disability and Equality that need to come together to make sure this funding is effective in how it relates to people with disabilities. I want to specifically address the accessibility retrofit programme for public transport. We opened a new DART station in my constituency, in Woodbrook, with fully accessible platforms, yet the fully accessible trains that will allow wheelchair users, for example, to get onto them will not come for two years.”
“How are we plugging into that streaming sector to increase the volume of material that is available trí mheán na Gaeilge do dhaoine atá ag féachaint ar Netflix, Apple TV, Prime agus araile? An bhfuil rudaí ar fáil do dhaoine sa chomhthéacs sin?”
“I appreciate what the Minister is saying and agree entirely with him. He mentioned "An Cailín Ciúin". It is a fantastic proof positive of the strength of Irish-language productions and the benefit that comes with it. Mar dhuine a d’fhoghlaim a chuid Gaeilge sa Rinn, bhí an-áthas orm an blas sin a fheiceáil agus a chloisteáil sa scannán sin. Mar a dúirt mé, tá sé thar a bheith tábhachtach do dhaoine go mbeidh siad in ann é sin a fheiceáil agus a chloisteáil. I appreciate what the Minister said about the increased funding for TG4, which is hugely important because it translates into direct funding for the independent production sector, from where they get so much of their content. However, "House of Guinness" for example, which is currently streaming on Netflix, is the first Netflix programme with Irish-language subtitles.”
“I hope there will be more in the budget next week. Is there specific monitoring of how that money is being spent and can we see the corresponding outturn at the end, particularly in respect of streaming services beyond national broadcaster services?”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. Mar is eol dó, aontaím go hiomlán leis an ráiteas atá ann sa chlár Rialtais, go háirithe maidir le rudaí trí mheán na Gaeilge. Tá sé sin thar a bheith tábhachtach. We know as well that through the Official Languages Act, there is now an obligation on State agencies to produce at least 20% of their advertising through the Irish language. That is something we hear on the radio and see on the television every day. It has created a tangible improvement for those who wish to live their lives through or experience the Irish language. They can now see it on a day-to-day basis beyond the likes of Raidió na Gaeltachta and TG4. That is important. Is there specific monitoring of the outputs? The investment is really important and I welcome what the Minister has said and the commitments.”
“I wish to ask the Minister about the merits of increasing support for independent producers in relation to Irish language productions for television, particularly for online media and streaming services, where there is a real opportunity for us to growth the product that is available through the Irish language.”
“One of the things we must do as a polity is convince our European colleagues that we have to stand together. If Europe cannot act together on this issue, then Europe will be ineffective in a way we have not seen previously. I am disappointed, but we have an opportunity as international diplomats to do something about it and we must call on our European colleagues to do that as well.”
“However, I will say this in a political context, though: as a proud European and chair of the European affairs joint committee here in the Oireachtas, I am infinitely disappointed by the failure of the European Union to deal with this. I am really worried that this failure of a response is going to fracture the positive relationship Irish people have with the Union. I say that in a context of my party colleagues in the EPP being President of the Commission and President of the European Parliament, both of whom went to Israel in the aftermath of the attacks in October 2023 and stood next to Israeli Ministers who were opening saying they were going to break international law. They said they stood with them. That is unforgivable. They have apologised for it, but it is not enough.”
“I welcome, therefore, that Ireland is beginning to build a coalition at European level and that Ministers have gone to Europe and persuaded other countries to follow us, whether that is in terms of making the statement that we are not happy about what is happening to recognising the State of Palestine, to talking about imposing actual restrictions and penalties on Israel in terms of trade. However insufficient that may seem, it is what we can do. I am proud that Irish politicians and the Irish Government are doing this. I am not trying to make a political speech and I am not trying to say we are great because it is beyond frustrating how powerless we are to stop this from happening.”
“The Irish Government was the first to really call out what Israel was doing in the aftermath of the attacks in October 2023, which cannot be justified. Hamas must accept responsibility for sacrificing a civilian population on the altar of its political ambition. There are no two ways about that. What has happened since then has not just been grossly disproportionate and criminal on an industrial and international scale, but genocidal and contrary to all humanity and all law.”
“I have listened to what all the speakers have said in this debate and I absolutely agree with the upset it causes to people. We also need to look at what we can do to resolve this and what we are doing. I am proud of what Irish people have done and the stance Irish people have taken, despite people telling us it is against our economic interest, for example, in terms of our relationship with the United States. I welcome that we as a people feel that affinity with the people of Gaza and of Palestine in general and that we understand how important an issue this is. I share the frustrations of people who feel that Ireland is not doing enough but we should recognise that actually Irish politicians have led the way on this subject in Europe and in the world.”
“Tá roinnt ama caite agam i nGaza agus bhí seans agam a bheith ann in 2000. I visited Gaza for the first time in 2000. At that time, believe it or not, it was possible to get a bus down through Israel to the border at Rafah and cross into Egypt. That happened for a brief period. I was also there in 2005 after the disengagement from the Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip. These are, therefore, people and places I actually know. What is happening there defies description and certainly defies justification. It is not just heart-wrenching but horrific and nightmare-inducing, so much so that I find it difficult to watch some of the coverage available, not on mainstream media but certainly online, where it is possible to see what is happening to ordinary, innocent people just trying to live their lives.”
“Rather than reinventing the wheel in the form of the legislation the Minister of State is proposing, which I am absolutely behind, let us do it across the board and ensure they are treated in the same way we treated cigarettes 20 years ago.”
“I hear people saying the quit programme, which has shown some success in helping people leave the fags behind, does not extend to these nicotine products. It should, and we should be providing the funding in the coming budget to ensure the programme is allowed to operate for e-cigarettes, nicotine products and vapes. The easiest way to do that is to essentially deal with them as if they were tobacco products, the same as cigarettes or other tobacco, and substitute the word “nicotine” into the Public Health (Tobacco) Acts so all the restrictions that apply to smoking indoors, purchasing cigarettes, advertising cigarettes to making them available to or to targeting them at children can be dealt with in one fell swoop.”
“I welcome the proposed legislation, which I understand is going to ban disposable vapes, though we are still behind the curve on that as it has already been done in Belgium, France and the United Kingdom. I agree with the bans on the point of sale displays, making them look like toys and the colours and flavours. All this makes sense but given we have been through this experience already, we need to be serious about this and essentially substitute the word “nicotine” for the word “tobacco” in the Public Health (Tobacco) Acts. All these products contain nicotine but they do not seem to have the same recognition within the State apparatus for helping people quit smoking, and vapes can be a gateway to cigarettes rather than a means to get away from them for many people as well.”
“That is great and the Public Health (Tobacco) Acts and the legislation we brought forward were a really positive force for dealing with this public health issue, but let us be under no illusions, because vapes, electronic cigarettes and nicotine products also pose a public health risk. While it may not be possible to show the direct causal link we have established with tobacco products there is no doubt the toxic substances used in these nicotine products cause harm and no doubt whatsoever that they are highly addictive, because there is scientific evidence for it. The notion, therefore, we would be supporting a regime that allows people to engage in addictive behaviour that is going to become worse and worse is highly regrettable. In that regard I welcome some progress on banning the sale of them to under-18s.”
“I put on record my support for the smoking ban. Ireland showed its mettle in terms of being ahead of the pack and dealing with smoking in a really serious way about 20 years ago. I have friends who gave up smoking the day the smoking ban came in and they have stayed off cigarettes ever since. It has undoubtedly saved lives and I pay tribute to the Ministers for Health who have contributed to attacking smoking over a long number of years. I remember working in pubs as a teenager and going home reeking of smoke. It is such a great thing that this is no longer happens to workers in their work environment.”
“Credit is due to former Ministers, Willie O'Dea and Heather Humphreys, and those who have worked on the scheme in the past. It is due to them but it is not about politics. It is about workers' rights.”
“It is not the only restaurant in Blackrock to close in recent weeks. Fellini's in Deansgrange closed as well. I regret both closures. They did not close because of auto-enrolment and no business will close because of this. It might be an extra cost, but what is costing small businesses are things such as the regulatory regime, insurance, VAT and the increased cost of the products they are selling. They are the challenges businesses really face, so let us be honest about this. Those people want to employ workers who will be safe into the future. That is what auto-enrolment is about. It is about ensuring that, when those people do come to retirement, step down and stop working, there will be a fund there to make sure they are well looked after. That is a good thing. It is not about politics.”
“Opposition TDs who are giving out about the scheme would have a situation where ordinary workers were dependent on the State to not cut pensions in the future or to increase pensions in line with inflation and the need for pensions, which has been a perennial problem in every state. Instead, what we are doing is creating an investment vehicle to safeguard the future of those people. Far from being a measure that is anti-worker, auto-enrolment is a measure that is pro worker. It is a measure that is pro worker to the cost of employers. There is no doubt about that because, while the State contributes, so do employers. As somebody who has previously been an employer, I think that is the way it should be. I recognise there is a cost to business. I represent a constituency where Big Mike's closed.”
“This measure will safeguard the future of workers in this country well into the future at a time when we are approaching a situation where we will have more and more people who are drawing pensions and fewer and fewer people who are working. We have to safeguard against that situation. We have a situation where people are complaining and have the notion that we cannot depend on pension funds. Yes, regulation is an important part of this. Careful regulation and careful monitoring of the fees that go into the fund and where the moneys are invested must all come with this.”
“Contrary to the assertion by some TDs earlier that this was an attempt to dismantle the welfare state or that we were trying to shift the burden of pensions from the State to the individual, that is not what is happening here at all. In fact, what this is is an empowerment measure. It specifically targets those with lower incomes because they cannot avail of this in their own right. Instead of shifting that burden, it gives them power to deal with their own futures when they retire and it comes at a cost to the State as well. The State is contributing a huge amount to this scheme and the workers benefit in that regard. People should not be afraid of this scheme.”
“I was listening to this debate. I was watching it on the television in my office and had to come to the Chamber to make sure I was listening to the correct debate because some of the comments I have heard today seem to be entirely at variance with what is actually being proposed in this policy and this scheme. I have heard it described as "anti-worker" when in actual fact this is exactly the kind of measure we need to put in place, particularly for low-paid workers, who were the ones who, according to some Deputies, were being particularly disadvantaged. They are also the people who are outside the net where they might avail of a pension.”
“What is the Government going to do to ensure that the providers of these apps are required to get informed and real consent from the people using them?”
“Last week's "RTÉ Investigates" programme on data sharing and the sharing of personal geolocation data by individuals through the downloading of apps was shocking and disquieting. People the length and breadth of this country are downloading apps and making consents, which are not real or informed, to allow third parties not only to gather hugely personal and invasive information about them but then to sell it to third parties without the knowledge of the person who has downloaded the app. Does the Minister agree that it cannot possibly be in compliance with the general data protection regulation or with our own data protection laws? If there is not informed consent and people do not understand they are giving that consent, it cannot be in accordance with data protection.”
“Does the Minister agree that if the companies are not buying into it - and yes, it is their option to do that - does that not massively compromise our ability to reduce the cost of childcare? They have changed it in respect of three centres but there are 11 in Dublin. Is the Minister not concerned that if she is not successful in engaging with these companies that it will compromise this policy?”
“I accept everything the Minister said. The owners of this facility say that the core funding model traps services in outdated, frozen fee structures while the cost of delivering quality childcare has continued to rise. I want this scheme to work. I want to make sure that the Minister's engagement with this company works and that we bring them back into the fold. However, the reality is there are parents in my area who are genuinely concerned that they are facing fees in the region of €1,400 per month, per child. It is an astonishing amount. It is a massive burden on parents throughout the country, which is why we all campaigned to bring that down to €200 per child per month. That is what we are trying to do.”
“I accept what the Minister said. This scheme is optional for companies and I understand why that is the case. I also understand that we campaigned on this issue last year and we promised the parents we would deliver serious cuts to the cost of childcare, reducing it to €200 per month. There are 11 centres throughout Dublin. As the Minister mentioned, the owners of this facility have changed the facilities in three, one of which is in my constituency in Shankill but there are two others in my constituency in Dún Laoghaire and Cherrywood. Parents in my area are really worried that the contagion, if I can call it that, is going to spread to their facilities. The increase in cost is going to be up to €340 per child per month. It is totally unacceptable. We need to take action.”
“My question relates to a childcare provider in Dublin who has indicated it is withdrawing from the market. Has the Minister plans to do anything to prevent such things as this happening and thereby increasing the costs hugely for parents using those facilities?”