Roderic O’Gorman interview: ‘There’s a commitment across all three government parties to deliver affordable childcare’
The Minister for Children has a busy year ahead, with his main priority being to overhaul a dysfunctional childcare sector in a way that will reduce fees for parents while at the same time increasing pay for childcare workers
Over the past year, Roderic O’Gorman, the Minister for Children, has been dealing with the €800 million compensation scheme for mother and baby home survivors, the proposed abolition of direct provision centres, and the residency scheme for 17,000 undocumented migrants.
O’Gorman seems set for every bit as busy a year in 2022, as he sets his sights on an issue that affects families up and down the country – Ireland’s dysfunctional childcare system.
He has ambitious plans for an overhaul of a sector which is paying low wages to its staff while also charging fees which, in many cases, amount to a second mortgage for parents. In an interview with the Business Post, O’Gorman said that the childcare funding increase announced in October’s budget was only “the first step”.
