Member's statement: Childcare
Member's statement by Mrs Cathy Mason on .
- MLA
- Mrs Cathy Mason
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 29 April 2024
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Childcare
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4485794
Read the official Assembly record
Text
The £25 million investment in childcare by our Minister of Finance, Caoimhe Archibald, now puts the wheels in motion to deliver high-quality and affordable childcare. Funding to kick-start the initial actions that a cross-departmental working group on childcare proposed shows the Minister's commitment to working with all parties to deliver high-quality and affordable childcare. It is a positive first step by the Finance Minister that reaffirms the Executive's commitment on childcare, but that commitment must also be a priority for the Minister of Education and his Department. We now need the Education Minister to move urgently and introduce his plans for a bespoke childcare scheme that provides good-quality, affordable and sustainable childcare for families and providers. Childcare costs are currently far too high and unaffordable for many. At a time of rising living costs, childcare costs place more and more financial pressure on families, providers and childcare workers. A bespoke childcare model must meet the needs of all children and young people. It must cater to the acute needs of children with special educational needs, children with physical disabilities and children who speak English as a second language. Delivering high-quality, affordable childcare is absolutely essential to ensuring that our young people get the very best start in life. I look forward to working with all parties, childcare providers, workers and families to help shape the much-needed new childcare strategy.
229 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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