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Martin not a fan of Harris' 'half-baked' childcare plan and new Dept for Infrastructure idea

Tánaiste says childcare providers might ‘take flight’ when they hear of proposals with no substance.

TÁNAISTE MICHEÁL MARTIN has distanced himself from the Taoiseach’s ‘half-baked’ childcare plan. 

Speaking at the Fianna Fáil party think-in in Killiney, the party leader was asked about Simon Harris’s idea to have childcare as part of the publicly funded education system.   

Martin cautioned against what he dubbed “half-baked” proposals on childcare, telling reporters:

“If we just throw out ideas without any substance behind them, a lot of those providers could take flight, [they] would be extremely concerned. They have invested now in the government’s plans, they’ve invested in their facilities. A lot of community playgroups have, and they won’t want to be told, ‘Well, actually, there’s no role for you anymore, because there’s a half-baked idea about doing something in schools.’”

Harris had proposed that childcare facilities be built next to primary schools. 

Martin said the state has become more involved in childcare, adding that he does favour more state intervention in early education. 

“I think the focus should always be on the development of the child, that has to be centre stage in terms of early education and childcare. But in addition to that, there are areas where we are not as strong as we should be, and in particular, in the area of special education in the early years.

“Now, we’ve invested a lot of money in the last two to three years in terms of affordability and in terms of more places, but there are emerging difficulties in terms of some providers,” said the Tánaiste.

Department of Infrastructure 

Separately, the Tánaiste also said he did not agree with the Taoiseach’s idea for a new Department of Infrastructure.  

He called for a “comprehensive blueprint” on how the mooted department would work.

When asked if he was in agreement with the idea of the new department, he said:

I’m not actually.

He added: “What we need in terms of infrastructure is to cut through a lot of barriers that successive governments have created in respect of getting public capital programmes through. I think the situation regarding the Children’s Hospital created an over caution within the public service, within the system generally, in terms of capital projects.”

He said he believed Transport Infrastructure Ireland needed to be given “clear direction” that there would be budget allocations to build roads with no delays.

He added: “In a three-party government, compromises have to be made. I think the NDP (National Development Plan) could have been delivered faster on roads, but for policy reasons, perhaps wasn’t delivered as fast as it could have been.”

Martin said his party will now be focusing on the next four to five years and will set out an ambitious agenda for Ireland for the next five years.

He also stated the ideal date for the general election is February, saying that no by-elections will be held before the general election.

The party has selected quite a significant number of candidates, said Martin, stating that he set a deadline of the end of September for the selection of candidates to be complete.

“We have 43% women selected so far across the various constituencies, and we are regularly focusing in, from an electoral perspective, on making sure that we have the optimal teams in every single constituency across the country,” he said.  

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14 Comments
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    Mute Thesaltyurchin
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    Sep 16th 2024, 3:36 PM

    Martin is gone… He’s a relic from a time that is finally passing, he’s never had and idea in his life… goodbye Michael!

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    Mute offside again
    Favourite offside again
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    Sep 16th 2024, 4:03 PM

    @Thesaltyurchin: the head on him. An angry teacher who has nothing else in his arsenal.

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    Mute Lina Stein
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    Sep 16th 2024, 3:28 PM

    A lot of schools already have “naiornra” or preschools.
    Why not slowly add to the rest of the primary schools. Perhaps the already existing kindergarten/preschool in a suburb or town/village that services the local primary school could have first refusal for the contract?
    This way there’s no bug changes for families.
    In addition to Harris’s childcare plan.. perhaps ‘after-school-care’ in the primary schools as they have in Australia.
    Homework and everything else sorted, kiddies go home to have a happy evening with parents without the “have you done your homework??”
    Just a thought

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    Mute Basildon Joe
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    Sep 16th 2024, 3:09 PM

    A half baked, custard cream of a plan.

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    Mute Thesaltyurchin
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    Sep 16th 2024, 3:37 PM

    @Basildon Joe: Lol having a department of infrastructure is half baked? You must love the rain?

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    Mute SV3tN8M4
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    Sep 16th 2024, 9:16 PM

    These two lying to the people about the date of the General Election & shouting Misinformation at everyone else. They are in full election mode & now dissing each other’s ideas publicly, it’s a sham.

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    Mute Spanner
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    Sep 16th 2024, 4:36 PM

    A new department created by ffg is a bad idea? Two for finance departments one for each party, department for higher education spirited out of the ether. The precedent has already been set.

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    Mute Sean O
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    Sep 16th 2024, 7:27 PM

    Paire of clowns

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    Mute Tee
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    Sep 17th 2024, 12:35 PM

    Only 5 words

    1. bike
    2. shed
    3. who
    4. stole
    5. money

    ??????!

    11
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    Mute Tee
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    Sep 17th 2024, 1:11 PM

    @Tee: that was meant to flow nicely but the formatting got messed up :(

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    Mute thomas molloy
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    Sep 16th 2024, 4:05 PM

    The country surged ahead under single party government with clarity regarding policies. We need to get back to a strong system again to hold on to our prosperity.

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    Mute Nigel Baldock
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    Sep 17th 2024, 7:28 AM

    The picture of FF’s glorious leader surrounded by his TD’s was like a scene from a horror film.

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    Mute jim delaney
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    Sep 17th 2024, 2:40 PM

    The was NO BANK BAILOUT.

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    Mute Liam Walsh
    Favourite Liam Walsh
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    Sep 17th 2024, 11:45 AM

    Ireland is crying out for much needed infrastructure, especially Dublin who’s creaking infrastructure is 30years out of date, eg:Metro underground rail for Dublin should have been built 20years ago, not 40years talking about it, I agree with Harris start Dublin’s badly needed infrastructure now, and Corks not more unless delays

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