Give childminders a tax break and let the parents get on with the job

THERE was no coincidence in the fact that various media outlets over the St Patrick’s break had reports about a supposed Government rethink on the issue of childcare.

The current Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Seamus Brennan, always had a very good eye for a media opportunity. After nearly a quarter of a century in politics, he is a past master of thinking out loud off the record to journalists on a quiet news day. Talk of a review of childcare policy needs to be seen in that light.

While it is true that parliamentarians of all parties got an earful about the cost of childcare as they pounded the by-election doorsteps in North Kildare and Meath, it would be absurd to think that it took this to put the issue on the Government’s agenda.