The Childcare report was welcomed by a wide variety of bodies yesterday, ranging from trade unions to employers and women's groups to rural organisations.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions urged the Government to move immediately to establish an "implementation group" to plan how to put the report's recommendations into practice.
The absence of adequate childcare provision "is one of the main bottlenecks in our economy which is impeding labour market flexibility and growth," said Ms Patricia O'Donovan, deputy general secretary of Congress.
The employers' organisation, IBEC, said the lack of affordable quality childcare had lost industry up to 46,000 potential employees. It said the Government should endorse the report and provide the funds to implement it.
The National Women's Council said provision for measures suggested in the report should be made in the Finance Bill.
Its chairwoman, Ms Noreen Byrne, said fears of alienating women in the home should no longer provide an excuse for Government inaction. She condemned politicians for "attempting to set women against one another and create conflict between women who work outside the home and those who work in the home."
Farm bodies also welcomed the report. Mrs Betty Murphy, the chairwoman of the IFA Farm Family Committee, said farm women increasingly have to work both on and off the farm because of the drop in farm incomes. She hoped the urgent need for accessible, affordable, quality childcare in rural areas would be addressed.
Ms Fionnuala Ruane, equality manager with the rural youth organisation, Macra na Feirme, said she was "delighted to see that childcare in rural Ireland is being taken seriously."
The Irish Hotels Federation described the report as "a major contribution to address the removal of barriers to increase the labour force."
The Fianna Fail National Women's Forum said it welcomed a parliamentary party debate on childcare to be held next Wednesday. The main concern of the forum is to maximise women's freedom of choice between working within or outside the home, according to its chairperson, Ms Marian McGennis TD.
The Green Party urged the Government to implement the report's recommendations as quickly as possible.