Michael Collins
Cork South-West · Independent Ireland · Ireland
“This matter has been raised twice already this morning, but it is hugely important. I will make a personal appeal to the Taoiseach regarding Skyclarys and the further delay that has now arisen. Yesterday, Emma O'Shea came to Leinster House from west Cork with her mother, father and brother.”
“Another huge problem which normally arises in August is that relating to school buses. Parents have no way to get their children to school because of the nearest school rule. The current and previous programmes for Government contain promises that this will be done away with, but nothing has happened. The rule needs to be abolished.”
“Every parent knows that September has become one of the most expensive months of the year. While free schoolbooks are welcome, many families now face growing costs for other items. Parents are being asked to purchase laptops that cost €400 or more, make increased payments for school transport and pay charges to cover examination fees.”
“Either 25 children are left without a school place this September, or two senior infants classes are merged into one class of 34 children. Does the Minister of State agree that schools should not be punished for helping to solve an enrolment crisis? Will he immediately sanction the additional teaching posts required for St.”
“Education should not be measured by means of the distance someone lives from school, and school transport should not be measured on that basis either. I want to raise a matter that Councillor Bill Clear brought to my attention. It is a very serious issue regarding St. Corban’s National School in Naas in County Kildare.”
“I was chairperson of a board of management and know the difficulties that schools face just because they are one or two children short. That can be made up as the year goes on but it is a crisis that Councillor Clear finds unacceptable.”
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“I was at the committee meeting today, and the planning authority and the tourism board are all over the place. They do not know what they are doing here. The Minister needs to intervene on this matter. I have no problem with regulation. I had a public meeting last Friday and I have another one tomorrow night in Clonakilty on this issue. The rooms are packed. People are concerned they are going to lose their honest incomes. This Bill has unintended consequences. The Minister could look at our amendment, which is a waiver for people who were in business. Any new Airbnbs will have to be fully compliant. That is quite acceptable. Registration is not an issue with them. Communities do not have hotels so they dip in on the Airbnbs to bring tourists into the community. This Bill has positive points.”
“That is completely disproportionate and will scare decent landlords out of the market. Regulation should be firm but it also must be fair. Heavily criminalising people is not a way forward. There are unintentional consequences. I have been very vocal on the short-term lets in recent weeks. This is going to have devastating consequences for short-term lets, Airbnbs in small rural communities. The 20,000 cap came in yesterday, which is very much to be welcomed, but the bottom line is that people still require planning. I would say 98% or 99% of them are running for the last 20 or 30 years. They did not have or need planning. They were quite happy running their business and everything was above board. They had fire safety and all that checked, insurance and everything. Planning is a different game.”
“I just have one house, thank God, and that is enough for me. I have been accused online of being on Airbnb. I do not know where people get this cracked-up information, but it keeps them happy, tapping away with their fingers. I have only my own home, and I live there. Property rights do not disappear because someone rents out a home. If a landlord needs a home for a close family member, that should be respected. Grandchildren, siblings, nieces and nephews matter too. The Bill also fails families dealing with bereavement. If a landlord dies, the family should be allowed to sell the property. These amendments are about basic fairness and compassion. The Bill introduces a new criminal offence, including jail time, not for exploitation but for getting complex rent rules wrong.”
“That might sound good on paper, but in the real world, it drives landlords out. The 4% reset over four years is modest, predictable and fair. It gives tenants certainty and landlords a reason to stay. If people can never move, properties leave the market and tenants lose homes. This amendment is about maintaining supply, not enriching anybody. The Bill draws a hard line at three tenancies, with no explanation. That is completely out of step with the existing law. The Tyrrelstown amendment referred to ten units, not three. Many ordinary landlords in towns and villages exceed three units unintentionally. Raising the threshold restores consistency and fairness. Small landlords are not the enemy. They are the backbone of the rental sector, and people must keep that in mind. I am not a landlord.”
“Where are we going to get the houses from? I scratch the back of my head when I hear too much criticism of landlords. Where do people think the houses are going to come from? They do not come up through the field like a mushroom in mild weather. They actually have to be built. They cost a lot of money, and people put a lot of time, effort and resources into that. Those people then need to make a genuine profit. These are difficult circumstances. I heard the phrases "unintended consequences" and "one size does not fit all". Unfortunately, this Bill needs a lot of fine-tuning. There are elements of it that we could agree with, but there are other elements that are going to cause problems, and I can see that too. The Bill is locking thousands of tenancies permanently below the market rent.”
“Deputy Stanley said we should not force through this Bill tonight, and I echo that sentiment, for many reasons. I agree with the amendments that are before us. Let us be honest. I hear a lot of comments about landlords. Landlords, unfortunately, include people who just have one extra house, yet they are still classified as landlords. I think it is very unfair for such people to be called a landlord. At the same time, I deal with landlords quite a lot. I have to deal with them. If a person is coming to you looking for a house, you are not carrying out your duty correctly if you do not speak to everybody concerned, including the council, the landlord and everybody else. Most of the landlords I speak to are decent, honest to God people. We have a real habit in this House of attacking them, as if they were all bad people.”
“That is the easiest thing to tackle. Millions have been spent on flood relief, which we respect. Last week, I asked the Tánaiste to change that and I asked whether a policy can be brought forward to make sure that rivers are clean. He said he is looking into it. The people of Midleton, Enniscorthy or Ballylicky cannot be flooded one more time without anything being done.”
“There is a pearl mussel on the side and it cannot be cleared. Where did the pearl mussel go when Enniscorthy flooded? It went across the field and was gone for ever. It is the same in Ballylicky. My brother, Councillor Danny Collins, dragged sandbags into houses there a few weeks ago to try to block the water. There is something wrong somewhere. Where is the blockage, pardon the pun, in government that means legislation cannot be fast-tracked in here to make sure that rivers with problems can be cleaned out? One cannot fill a bath at home and keep running the water without expecting it to overflow and destroy the house. That is the most simple way to put it. We expect that in this country. We do not want to clean our rivers. Whether Enniscorthy, Innishannon, Ballylicky or Bantry, there is no policy to do that.”
“I respect that but they need answers. The most mortifying thing I have found is that almost every year since I was elected, I have gone with a Minister around Bantry, a town that has been struck with floods severely, and sometimes I think I am only annoying businesses telling them we are very sorry and how terrible it is. That is not a solution. In Bantry, 42 years ago people told me they had to go into their premises and sit up on high stools because the water was tearing through the businesses. In 2025, the same thing happened. Nothing changed. I know the Minister was down in Ballylickey in 2017. We were told about the pearl mussel and we know the pearl mussel is important. I heard a gentleman on RTÉ radio the other day talking about Enniscorthy. He said the rivers are blocked.”
“I thank Aontú for tabling this motion which important for the whole country. This has been a hobby horse of mine since I came into the Dáil in 2016 because I saw, in my short two years in the council, the damage in my constituency mainly caused by blocked rivers. I genuinely want to have this addressed. What is blocking people from going in, perhaps putting in an application for a river to be cleaned out and for it to be cleaned out? It is so simple but it is made so difficult. It has destroyed houses and homes the length and breadth of the country. Nobody seems to want to tackle that issue. I am not going to be critical of the Minister of State, Deputy Moran. He has the feet worn off himself going around visiting communities that were destroyed by flooding. That is what a Minister should do - talk to his people and businesses.”
“I have been looking for statements in relation to the fishing industry for quite some time. I know the Government will say we have had them but the bottom line is that a task force was set up nearly two months ago. We have not heard whether it has met? What are the terms of reference? What is it doing? I was at a funeral the other day and I met a fisherman. He said that one day fishing and the quota is filled. They are facing ruination, and we are not doing much about it.”
“Nowhere else in Europe are existing Airbnb and short-term lets being destroyed. It has been tried by the Scottish Government but it had to row back on the decision. The loss of income in a female dominated industry will be felt the length and breadth of the country if this is to go ahead. At this moment, Fáilte Ireland has registration forms ready on which it quite clearly asks if the person has planning. If this is not removed, it is breathtaking to see that Fáilte Ireland, the very body put in place to build tourism, will be the body at the forefront, with this Government, of destroying tourism, as we know it, forever.”
“The Taoiseach may say that I am putting forward a doomsday scenario. It is doomsday for these people who have been doing Airbnb for the past five, ten, 20, 30, 40 or 50 years if planning regulations have to come into place. I welcome the statement from the Minister, Deputy Burke, but the planning requirement is still going ahead. That is the very serious concern we all have. That is the part that will ruin existing short-term holiday lets. Independent Ireland has an amendment tomorrow night that would safeguard existing businesses and provide them with certainty if the Government will agree to it. The only opportunity to put this right is through the Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026 tomorrow night. I am getting emails from Airbnb short-term providers all over Ireland who are up in arms over this.”
“Will owners of Airbnb and short-term lets in areas with populations of under 20,000 have to apply for planning permission? The same question applies to bed and breakfast accommodation, short-term holiday lets and the householders providing once-off accommodation at weekends for events like Comórtas Peile na Gaeltachta or local festivals the length and breadth of Ireland. Will they all come under this planning legislation? If so, it will damage our tourism industry in rural coastal communities throughout Ireland, which are still reeling from the complete collapse of the fishing industry and the struggles of our beef industry at this time.”
“It is the same story the length and breadth of Ireland. This is tourism and it is a decades-old success. Tourism was down by 8% last year. Has the Government calculated what this will cost the tourism sector? People from all over the world came to rural parts of Ireland to enjoy what we have to offer, which is far more than anywhere in the world. Those in short-term lets are horrified by what is happening. At a packed public meeting that I held in O'Donovan's Hotel in Clonakilty last Friday night, I heard story after story of great short-term let businesses from Beara to Kinsale and how they sold all that is great about Ireland. All of this looks to be in tatters to them if the Government railroads through this legislation in its current form.”
“Last week, I contacted the ladies to tell them that I was raising this issue in the Dáil only to be told they had pulled out of the business as they could not carry on with the indecision and the stress of not knowing if they would be forced down the planning permission route or not. Ten beds have been lost to the surrounds of Courtmacsharry. Tourism beds mean people calling, staying for a few days, eating in local restaurants in Courtmacsharry, Timoleague, Clonakilty and Bandon, having a few pints in the local pubs and using local transport services, all adding to the economy of the local community. This story is not just confined to Courtmacsharry. This also applies to Connemara in Galway, Westport in Mayo, Bundoran in Donegal, Dungarvan in Waterford, New Ross in Wexford, and Kenmare in Kerry.”
“I could understand it if this Bill sought these changes for short-term lets in areas with a population of over 20,000 but those in rural communities who let granny flats or let rooms on a short-term basis in houses or sheds should not come under the residential tenancies planning provisions. I was dealing with two ladies in west Cork last year who were doing Airbnb for decades, letting out approximately ten rooms in two houses. They heard of this new legislation and knew that if they had to get planning permission, assuming they could get it in the first place, it would cost tens of thousands of euro which would make their little tourism businesses non-viable.”
“The Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, in spite of its intentions, raises concerns as it could have unintended consequences for many people in this country. The part that raises most concerns for the tourism sector is the short-term letting planning part. It is being proposed as part of this new legislation that Airbnb, bed and breakfast and short-term lets will require registration and planning permission. The people who let for the short term, mainly for tourism purposes, have no issue with being registered as all of their work is above board anyhow. However, if they have to get planning permission for short-term letting, that will close down most of the short-term lets in Ireland.”
“A lot of people give out to us if we use mobile phones, which we should not do, of course, but when you are driving, there is a computer screen at the front of every new car you can buy today. That is an appalling situation. There are many issues. Take passing bays. On the N71, the R586 and the R585, there is not one passing bay. I could be held behind a tractor for 25 or 30 minutes on the road by someone pulling stuff. I would appreciate a little bit more money. Maybe the Minister of State could take a visit down there some time and we can have a look at all these issues.”
“There is a complete lack of funding and a complete lack of understanding that Cork County Council has been underfunded not for a couple of years but for decades, and it cannot deliver when it does not have money. It is a very serious issue. I am on the transport committee and I raised this next issue the other day. Has the Minister of State met the car manufacturers? The biggest problem we have today is that there are computer screens inside cars. There is a bloody portable television up on the dashboard. People can no longer just put down the hand and turn on the radio or put on the heating. You did not have to look; now you have to work a computer.”
“There is no doubt the roads in my constituency are in an atrocious condition. I would dearly welcome the Minister of State coming down to see some of them. I spend most of my time travelling, but during the weekend when I am in my constituency, I spend most of my time trying to go around potholes. It is not good enough. It is the height of danger. We have verges that are not cut and there are trees hanging over onto roadways. The other day, The Southern Star , our newspaper down there, ran a piece by Kieran O'Mahony on the front page about how people cannot pass their driving test because they cannot see the lines on the road. There are no lines on the road and all the signs are blocked because everything is overgrown.”
“This country has been washed out by flooding the length and breadth of Ireland. It was Wexford last week, Bantry a couple of months ago and Midleton over a year ago. It is scandalous that it can take a couple of decades to get flood defences to the point of being ready. It must be explained because it seems that no one has control. There is one thing we can do, however, and that is the cleaning of our rivers. I have advocated for this here for over a decade. In Wexford last week they were saying that the rivers are full of silt and the same thing was said in Midleton not so long ago. I have always said that if the bath is full of silt or sand, the water has only one way to make its way out, and that is over and down, and to wash out the house. Will any river cleaning programme be put in place?”
“I cannot as Uisce Éireann has become untouchable and non-contactable on its road to non-delivery, but shamefully this Government saw fit to give the CEO a 47% pay rise without a shred of accountability. It is little wonder that the Government refused Independent Ireland's motion on timelines and accountability. Simply put, it stinks. It stinks to the high heavens.”
“How can I tell the people of Adrigole, who were forced to close their crèche as they are two days without mains water and experienced 16 breaks since last June, that Uisce Éireann is looking after them or the people of Ballinascarthy and Shannonvale who went without water at Christmas or the people of Goleen, Ballydehob, Rosscarbery, Dunmanway and Shannonvale who are waiting decades for upgrades to their wastewater tanks? They never get any updates as to what is happening and when it is going to happen. How can I tell Councillor Noel Thomas in Galway that the new wastewater treatment plant in Connemara will deliver across to Carraroe, Costello, Tully and Ros an Mhíl?”
“As the Tánaiste said, answers and engagement from Uisce Éireann to Oireachtas Members is a non-goer. Any improvements there would be greatly welcomed because we are pulling the hair out of our heads to get responses for our communities. I do agree with the developer-led scheme he referred to because that is the only way we are going to deliver. I do, however, believe that people deserve pay increases too. I am not standing on this side of the House saying absolutely not, but how can I explain how this Government sought to reward the CEO of Uisce Éireann with a rise of 47% when others on the breadline got nothing?”
“Uisce Éireann was hit with €20 million in fines last year for failing to meet leakage reduction targets, fines the taxpayer ultimately covers. While this is happening, this Government's priority seems to be signing off on a pay rise and bonuses, not accountability. In this year's budget, many workers got no relief whatsoever. Households are stretched to breaking point during a cost-of-living crisis, yet somehow the Government approved a €108,000 wage increase for the CEO while hard-working people got nothing. I am asking the Tánaiste the same question the nation is asking. How in God's name did the Government think it was appropriate to approve this massive salary increase at a time Uisce Éireann is failing communities and ordinary workers are getting absolutely nothing?”
“Niall Gleeson has been in leadership since 2019 and the CEO since 2022. During this period, delivery has gone from boom to bust. Before Irish Water took over, local authorities, even under massive pressure, always gave public representatives a timeline. Do you know what? That kept communities calm. What we get now is a copy and paste generic response that mocks the people who are already stretched beyond words. It is absolutely scandalous that a semi-State company's CEO is rewarded with €333,000 a year and the company cannot give a straight answer to the communities in crisis. Instead, we have wastewater plants leaking across this island, polluting local rivers and oceans and water mains that are constantly leaking.”
“Some communities have been waiting 28 years for a simple timeline on when their wastewater treatment plants will stop leaking into local drinking water and community playgrounds that were once meant for children. That is not politics. That is public health, public safety and basic respect for citizens. Instead of demanding answers, this Government signed off on a €108,000 salary increase for the CEO of Uisce Éireann taking his earnings from €225,000 to €333,000. This was approved by the board last Friday and sanctioned by the Government before Christmas. Uisce Éireann claims it reflects the scale of complexity of the role and the leadership needed to manage a €12.2 billion budget. How can anyone talk about accountability when the organisation's track record tells a different story?”
“Independent Ireland tabled a motion on Uisce Éireann two weeks ago. All we asked for was accountability and timelines. Nothing more and nothing unreasonable, yet the Government opposed it. It was shameful to oppose a motion that simply asked a semi-State body to answer to the people they are supposed to serve. Uisce Éireann will receive €2.2 billion from the Exchequer in 2026 and a staggering €13.6 billion between 2025 and 2029. With that level of public funding, this Government cannot wash its hands of responsibility. It is accountable for how this organisation behaves, but for some reason, the Government seems afraid to hold Uisce Éireann to account at all. Accountability is a small ask.”
“They should not have to protest outside Bord Bia and occupy the office and they certainly should not have to spend their evenings in the Dáil begging for fairness. It is long past time for Government to truly listen and act decisively in support of Irish farmers, Irish beef, poultry and grain and Ireland's future and immediately remove the chair of Bord Bia.”
“They should not have to sit in the Gallery looking down on this Chamber, waiting for basic respect and common sense. They have far better things to be doing like running the farms that keep the country fed, employed and sustained. Farmers meet some of the strictest environmental welfare, safety and traceability standards in Europe, yet they are undercut by foreign feed, exposed to banned hormones entering our food chain, threatened by invasive weeds and let down by delays in updating rules that could protect Irish products and jobs. Their patience is exhausted. I ask the Government, when did it become anti-Irish and so anti-farmer? That is how farmers feel - abandoned, ignored and undermined.”
“Is this the standard we are willing to accept for them, a food chain where banned carcinogenic hormones have already entered Ireland through imported Brazilian beef and where more cheaply produced meat could follow under Mercosur? Parents expect the Government to protect their families, not expose them to risks created by weaker import controls. On top of that, imported British straw is risking the spread of blackgrass, a destructive weed that could devastate Irish tillage land if allowed to take hold. These farmers have been raising concerns for weeks. Their protest escalated to the point of occupying Bord Bia headquarters, driven by deep frustration at what they describe as inaction, warning that each day this drags on further erodes their confidence in the organisation. They should not have to be here tonight.”
“Their message is clear: their confidence in Bord Bia has been deeply damaged. The controversy around the sourcing of Brazilian beef has only widened the divide between farmers and those meant to promote their produce. It does not stop there. We import over 740,000 tonnes of low-quality, poorly traceable Mercosur feed, undermining our own fully traceable Irish grain sector. We all know now that Brazilian beef treated with carcinogenic hormones entered the Irish food chain, and the Mercosur deal would also allow in up to 180,000 tonnes of poultry produced under weaker standards. What about the children of this country?”
“I welcome all the farmers in the Gallery. They have been out protesting for the past week. It is thanks to democracy in this country that they can do so in very difficult circumstances for quite a lot of those farmers. I welcome that they are here tonight. They are carrying out their basic human rights to put food on the table - good clean Irish food - as they have done for the past decades. That is being challenged every day of the week now for the past few years. Tonight we stand firmly with the farmers of Ireland who should not have to be up in the Gallery of this House. They should be at home running their farms, not sitting here looking down on us, waiting for decisions that should have been made long ago. Last week, I stood with IFA members outside Bord Bia headquarters where protests have continued day and night.”
“She was crying in my office on Saturday because they cannot get a home. We have a serious crisis and instead of dealing with it the Government is attacking the tourism sector.”
“I am not saying it for the camera. I am saying it for the people of west Cork. How dare you insult the people of west Cork? You should not dare open your mouth like that. If you do not know what you are doing, you should not be there at all. How dare you say that? The people of west Cork are going to lose their income. They are crying in my offices. They are crying without a house because the Government cannot supply them with one. God almighty, what is wrong with you? I had a lovely girl in front of me yesterday. After many years, she had got an eviction notice the day before. I said that she had not slept since she got it and she said that she had not and that she could not sleep with the worry. Another woman told me she cannot get social housing because she and her partner both work.”
“She is not going into the business again. She has packed up because of this legislation. She talked about the number of people who had booked rooms with her who went into Clonakilty or Bandon to have a bit of food or a pint. They used local taxis and the local transport bus to come and go. The Government is going to block all of that with this legislation. Will the Minister of State wake up? This is not going to work. If it does go through, the Government parties will be run out of west Cork in the next election. The Minister of State keeps nodding over there but I will send this on to him. I am having a public meeting at 7 p.m. next Friday in O'Donovan's Hotel on this issue alone. I will stand by the tourism sector in west Cork. I will stand by the people of west Cork. I will not turn my back on them.”
“We cannot let that happen here. It looks like it is happening. We have been pleading about this for the last year and a half here in the Dáil, in the audiovisual room and in other places. Meeting after meeting has been held on this issue across the road in Buswells Hotel. The Government is treating Courtmacsherry in the very same way as Dublin 4. That does not work and the Minister of State should not even dream that it does. A woman in west Cork told me last week that she has packed up because of the terror of this legislation going through. She said that she and her friend had packed up. They said to hell with it; they are sick of it. Will the Minister of State listen to me for two minutes for God's sake? If he does not, no one else will. This woman told me that this meant ten bedrooms gone in her corner of the community.”
“It is Waterford. Waterford depends on tourism so the Minister of State will know all about it. It is a lovely place. Many people depend on the little bit of income from Airbnb, operating bed and breakfast accommodation or letting out a second home or whatever for the short term. They have very serious concerns. They will now have to fill out a form and be registered. They have no problem with registering. They are not afraid to be registered. However, there are very serious concerns about having to seek planning permission. According to this Bill, they will not be allowed to operate without it. That is on the form as of now. Perhaps the Government is going to change it. That is where my amendments will come into play. If that is not changed, these places will end up being shut down. That is an astonishing attack on tourism.”
“This legislation is going to come before the people next May. People the length and breadth of west Cork have been asking me about it because we depend on short-term lets. I am genuinely not sure where the Minister of State's constituency is.”
“This Bill preserves a one-size-fits-all approach that treats rural communities in the same way as inner-city Dublin. It does not deliver housing supply, tackle vacancy and dereliction or distinguish between large-scale operators and local families. We will be proposing amendments. I hope they will be accepted. We could then sit around the table to work on delivery. The Bill will remove accommodation from the tourism market, damage local economies and undermine livelihoods across west Cork, all without producing a single affordable home. Until the Government recognises that rural Ireland needs a different and balanced approach, I cannot support measures that punish rural communities while failing to solve the housing issue. Part of this Bill relates to short-term lets. The situation in that regard is very serious. I have seen it myself.”
“We are again being told that these are only technical amendments and that nothing is changing. However, in places like west Cork and in Killarney, County Kerry, next door to us, that reassurance rings hollow. These sections lock in a planning regime that was never designed with coastal rural communities in mind. They copper-fasten restrictions on short-term letting that hit family homes, small operators and tourism-dependent villages while doing nothing to address the real causes of the housing crisis. In west Cork, short-term letting is not about speculation or corporate landlords; it is about ordinary households renting a room or a home for part of the year to keep local tourism alive and to make ends meet in areas with limited employment options.”
“Like Deputy Smith, I believe we need a debate on flooding and the flood preventative works that should have been done in many towns and villages that are flooded, and certainly with regard to the rivers. I heard on the radio the other day with regard to Enniscorthy that the river has not been cleaned. We need to have a debate on this.”
“However, almost straight away, families were being told that split-place exemptions will be removed. For many parents, this feels like giving with one hand and taking with the other. There are families who simply do not have the option to keep their child in one service for five days a week. Their local services are full. There are not enough places. To make childcare work and to stay in employment, they have no choice but to use two different services. This is not a lifestyle choice. It is the only arrangement that allows them to manage work and care availability. Removing these exemptions punishes families who are already dealing with a shortage of childcare places, especially in rural areas.”
“We cannot expect families to thrive when they are forced into last-minute arrangements, long commutes or unaffordable private options. I call for the urgent prioritisation of new crèches, expanded childcare supports and meaningful investment in early years services in areas like Skibbereen. Families deserve stability, affordability and access to the childcare services that every community should have as a basic right. I will also raise an issue that many parents in my constituency have contacted me about, that is, the decision to end the ECCE split-place exemptions from the beginning of the 2026 programme year. Only last week, the Government announced a major investment in early years education, claiming that it would improve access and make childcare more affordable.”
“Many parents in west Cork and all over Ireland are in similar situations, working full-time and doing everything right and yet finding themselves financially stretched because essential childcare infrastructure simply does not exist. This is more than an inconvenience. It is a failure of basic social infrastructure. Childcare is not a luxury. It is a necessity for working families and an essential pillar of a functioning equitable society. When families cannot access childcare, their economic security is threatened, their ability to work is compromised and the well-being of their children is affected. It is deeply concerning that such a vital service is missing from a town as large and vibrant as Skibbereen.”
“This parent applied to crèches not only in Skibbereen but also in Ballydehob and even as far away as Clonakilty. Despite placing their daughter on multiple waiting lists, they were eventually told there was simply no space for her anywhere. After months of uncertainty, they finally found childcare but only by piecing together two separate childminders, one covering Monday through Thursday and another who would take their daughter on Fridays. They consider themselves lucky because many parents in their community are still struggling and often relying heavily on family support, which not everyone has. Even for those who do find childcare, the financial burden can be overwhelming. This family is paying nearly €1,300 every month for two childminders with no Government subsidy, no scheme and no relief available to them. They are not alone.”
“According to Elaine Dunne, chairperson of the Federation of Early Childhood Providers, if Government funding is not increased, more closures will follow. As a starting point in resolving this urgent issue, the Government must increase the current rate per child per hour from €4.60 to the sponsorship rate of €5.30. The Department of children must take responsibility for the payment of the rates bills or, alternatively, rates must be abolished entirely. I will address some issues that parents are having. One issue affecting families in Skibbereen and across the wider west Cork area is the serious lack of childcare facilities, which puts pressure on parents who are simply trying to balance work and family life. I recently heard from the parent of a 12-month-old girl who had been searching for childcare for most of the year.”
“Although these small service providers have been rates-exempt since 2010, over the last six months, they have been receiving these rates bills, which they cannot afford to pay. It is the death knell for many of these providers. The ECCE programme is a free two-year programme for children aged from two years and eight months to five years old. It runs five days a week and provides three hours a day of free pre-school. Service providers say that Government funding of between €69 and €82 per child per week is not enough to sustain these services. Costs have increased but Government funding has not. Their contracts do not allow them to charge parents. These increasing costs on crèches are not sustainable.”
“Since 2019, almost 1,000 early years childcare services have closed their doors. The Minister has said that 579 new services have opened but she failed to say that most of these only cater for school-age children. There are currently 40,000 children on waiting lists for childcare across the country. The services that have closed could potentially have provided for 30,000 of those children. Childcare facilities are closing because of ever-rising costs and a lack of funding from Government. Many more small early childhood care and education, ECCE, services are going to close because the Department of children is making no funding available to cover these costs. New rates bills are now being foisted upon them.”