NICOLA WILLIS (National): Thank you for the opportunity to ask some questions about these Estimates. An issue that our select committee did examine, but which I would appreciate some more input from the Minister in the chair, the Hon Chris Hipkins, on, was predictions around what early childhood education participation may look like over the next months and, indeed, years. The reason this is important, of course, is that the Estimates estimate how much expenditure the Crown will make on early childhood education (ECE) on a demand-driven basis, i.e., how many hours we expect children of each age to enrol in services by type of service and, therefore, how much Crown expenditure will be incurred. What we have seen during COVID-19 is reductions in participation by children, both in terms of the hours that they're attending and the number of children who are enrolled in early childhood education. 