It's one of the biggest issues facing families across Ireland, and yet it never ranks highly in the list of people's political priorities. Could childcare still be the issue that wins or loses this election?

On the latest episode of The Candidate podcast — which now takes a weekly look behind the scenes and beyond the headlines to focus on what’s really happening in Irish politics right now — Christine Bohan, Jane Matthews, Rónán Duffy, and Sinéad O'Carroll examine the attempts at a political level to make access to childcare easier and to take that burden off parents. What are people experiencing right now, and are the solutions nothing more than throwing money at a growing problem?

The team also discuss the decision by the Washington Post to not endorse any candidate (and why that isn't something an Irish audience might balk at) and the new (surprisingly naive or astutely reflective?) book from a certain former housing minister.