Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As Sinn Féin spokesperson on children's affairs, I intend to focus on child care and the contributions made by Ministers to the debate. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform stated that a successful child care policy will help people to participate in the economy and that we need to find a balance between the needs of children, parents and the wider economy. The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs has established a working group on the issue of child care and is calling for submissions. The child care crisis has reached breaking point in this State. Parents, workers and child care providers have all been calling for an immediate focus on finding lasting solutions to the challenges in the sector. Time is of the essence and strategies urgently need to be put in place. I welcome that the Minister, Deputy Reilly, has acknowledged the urgency of the matter but I am not convinced that a lengthy consultation process and calls for submissions from the public are the best solution to this immediate crisis. I recognise that consultation is needed but stakeholders and children's organisations have been giving their input and recommendations for many years. Parents have voiced their opinions through these groups and they are waiting for change. There is growing sentiment within the sector and among parents that the decisions being made around consultation are delaying the desperate need for progress. The interdepartmental group set up to address the issue is apparently meeting regularly. I have repeatedly asked the Minister when can we expect an update on what is being discussed but I am routinely told that this group of representatives from seven Departments and their advisers are working on a plan. Policy documents and reports from the most knowledgeable of people in Irish NGOs and children's organisations have already outlined proposals and solutions. Are they being taken on board?

The spring statement boils down to the announcement that the Government will have between €1.2 billion and €1.5 billion available for tax cuts and spending increases, which it intends to split on a 50:50 basis. Cuts to taxes should provide an extra few euro a week to some people but the taxes imposed through water charges and on other living standards will ultimately cancel that money out. This is why the debate on tax credits for child care is made redundant. Tax credits will do nothing to improve the quality of child care or parents' ability to access it. Any extra money in the pockets of struggling families will be used for what they most need at any given time. Tax credits will not improve the quality of early years services and or help the most disadvantaged. The best way to achieve the affordable, high quality child care that is so badly needed in this State is to invest in services and link that funding to quality. The children's' organisation Start Strong has pointed out that research from the OECD suggests the best way to make child care both affordable and high quality is to directly subsidise places in early year services, and to tie that funding to quality. We need to learn from other countries rather than repeat their mistakes.

Investment is the key to sustainable long-term growth by expanding the productive capacity of the economy and increasing employment and incomes. Last year the Government pledged that budget 2015 would introduce measures to assist low income families by improving the system of child income supports such that those moving from welfare to work will retain payments for children to ensure that people are better off in work. The increase in child benefit and the introduction of the back-to-work family dividend is welcomed but it is well documented by child stakeholders that the lack of high quality affordable child care will keep many families in poverty. Austerity budgets over recent years included cuts to child benefit which put additional pressures on families whose incomes are already stretched as a result of the recession. Child benefit was cut from a peak of €166 per month to the current rate of €130. The increase to €135 from January 2015 and to €140 from 2016 is minimal when compared to recent cuts. The back-to-work family dividend announced in budget 2015 is intended to help families move from social welfare to employment by allowing them to retain the qualified child increase, QCI, of €29.80 per child per week. Families will keep the full QCI for the first 12 months after taking up a job and 50% of the QCI for the second 12 months. However, the largest cost faced by many families when moving from social welfare is the cost of child care. The average cost of a full-day place is €167 per week. The €29.80 back-to-work family dividend is insignificant when viewed in that perspective. This commitment does not a support parents wishing to take up or return to work. We need an investment in quality and affordable child care so that parents can return to work in a dignified and realistic manner.

The Government also pledged to increase access to subsidised child care and after school places by extending eligibility. International research shows that early care and education services only benefit children if they are of a high quality. Quality of child care in this State is inconsistent and variable. Improving quality must be the central aim of early years policy. Although the Government is committed in theory to a second free pre-school year, the sector has called for improvements in quality for the first year and to make access universal in practice rather than in name. Children with special needs are frequently denied access to the free pre-school year due to a shortage of appropriate staff and special needs assistants in creches The Government's promise of universal care is in name only.

The after school child care scheme did not provide the solution to after school services for children that the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection promised. Only 267 children use the scheme compared to the 6,000 places proposed in 2012, for reasons such as accessibility. The scheme, which was launched with great fanfare by the Tánaiste in 2012, was to be allocated €14 million per year. The allocation was intended to provide over 6,000 part-time after school child care places for the children of low income parents. Significant cuts have been made to the scheme's funding have been made and uptake is minimal but the Tánaiste continues to fly the flag for the scheme by portraying it as one of the success stories of this Government. The scheme has not worked and credible new proposals must be made. Investment is needed.

A recurring message on which the Government has tried to relay in its spring statement is that we are, apparently, beginning to move out of the recession. If this is so, the Government has a duty to start immediately investing in critical services, such as child care. he Government's attitude towards child care and the needs of families must change. We must start investing in our youngest children. We in Sinn Féin believe that investment in services that will better the quality of lives is more effective than nominal tax cuts that will amount to little more than a few euro a week. Token gestures solve nothing in the long term. However, given the Government's commitment to a 50:50 plan in tax cuts versus spending, I call on it to put investment in quality child care high on the list.

As a country, we invest very little in our young children, less than 0.2% of GDP. The average investment in OECD countries is 0.8% of GDP. In my capacity as special rapporteur for the upcoming Committee on Health and Children report into child care in Ireland, I have been meeting with a large number of representatives from both the sector and parents and have found that the overarching issue is the serious under-funding of the sector. It is unrealistic and short-sighted to presume improvements can be made while the resources are not being provided to make those critical changes. It is common sense that investment in child care is ultimately an investment in children and the future of society. Affordable and accessible child care for all types of families should be a right, not a luxury. Child care is not only about caring for children, but about the education and development of the individual from his or her earliest formative years. The attitude and terminology needs to change. The child care sector deserves equal status and treatment to that of every other stage of childhood education and development. The Government must acknowledge that.

A long term vision and plan for the sector is urgently needed. The Government demands the further professionalisation of the sector and quality improvement. However, in order for that to happen, proper resourcing and wage structures are essential. A clear message from meeting with workers and providers is that they are extending themselves as far as they can to keep services open and running to a high standard. The commitment to the welfare of children, of both employers and employees, is unquestionable. They are calling for any changes in policy to be children focused. What we need to see now is a matching of that commitment from the Government in the form of real solutions.

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