Thousands of childcare providers and supporters protested outside the Dáil to demand increased funding for the sector.
However they say despite an increase in core funding no targeted supports have been made available to operators
Averil Sheehan who owns Care-A-Lot Childcare in Innishannon says she will have to change her business model otherwise she will go out of business
She told RedFM News that she believes the Government wants to introduce public childcare in Ireland
"I think there's an ultimatum that they want to get a public childcare sector out there, but that's not going to work. You see how the healthcare system - the public health care system - is struggling at the moment, it's just not going to work and the quality is going to go down and ultimately the children will suffer"
