Childcare package - Proposals do not go far enough

ANOTHER broadside has been fired in the battle for the hearts and minds of thousands of voters frustrated at the Government’s failure to tackle the vexed question of childcare.

Yesterday's coalition announcement of a €45 million package to create over 3,000 new childcare places indicates the administration is alert to the political peril of this explosive issue.

The coalition's failure to confront the huge financial burden on couples struggling to meet childcare costs, has effectively put the controversy centre-stage in the run-up to an election that could be called any time between now and May 2007.