Ms Orla O'Connor:

On behalf of the National Women's Council of Ireland, I thank the joint committee for giving me the opportunity to make this presentation. I welcome the work being done by the committee and the attention it is giving to this issue. We look forward to the production of its report.

The National Women's Council of Ireland is the leading national women’s membership organisation, with over 180 member groups from a diversity of backgrounds, sectors and locations. For a long time, child care has been a core issue for the council. It is a gender equality issue. The cost of child care continues to act as a significant barrier to women’s equality in Ireland. Having a child is both important and rewarding for most parents, but it is also an expensive time, bringing with it many dilemmas, for mothers in particular. Mothers and our members consistently highlight the crippling cost of child care and the pressure this places on them and their families. The cost of child care impacts on a wide range of decisions women make such as when to return to work, whether to work part or full-time, the type of job they should take up after unemployment, when and at what age their child will enter school and who will care for their children. These are critical decisions parents should be enabled to make without the pressure of having to ask, "What can we afford?"

Public spending on child care and early education as a percentage of GDP is the lowest in the OECD. The average is approximately 0.7%. We should be working towards a target of 1% of GDP. In countries such as Iceland, Denmark and Sweden spending is as high as 1.4% of GDP. In Ireland we spend between 0.2% and 0.4%, which indicates the huge gap here. Consequently, child care costs in Ireland are the most expensive in comparison with those elsewhere in the European Union. Mothers who have contacted the National Women's Council of Ireland report prices of between €800 and €1,100 for a full-time place, depending on where they live. This means that a person needs to earn a minimum of €11,000 per annum just to cover child care costs. The most recent research from the Vincentian Partnership has looked at these costs, particularly for lone parents, and believes a lone parent with two children needs to earn approximately €40,000 a year to cover child care costs. That is the situation parents, particularly mothers, face. In comparison, parents in Denmark pay a maximum of approximately €400 per month for a full-time child care place for a child over one year and this amount is then scaled down or reduced depending on the parent's income.

It is clear to us and I believe to the committee that the current provision in Ireland is not working to facilitate parents to combine work and family life. It limits the choices for women. The statistics are stark in terms of employment rates for women, particularly as they relate to women without children. Employment rates plummet significantly when there are more than two children in a family. The same impact is not seen in the employment of men in whose case the number of children makes no difference. This clearly is a gender equality issue.

The NWCI has been advocating improvements. We proposed a new child care model in 2004 to an Oireachtas committee but it is disappointing that in the intervening 11 years, there has been little progress on this issue and we are here again today advocating the same model. Our model proposes a publicly subsidised, high quality and universal model of child care combined with a system of paid leave which supports mothers and fathers to combine work and family life. Back in 2004 and still today, our proposal was and is about a child centred mode but it is also a model that includes clear gender equality objectives. This is the type of model we see in Scandinavian and Nordic countries and it has worked in the best interests of children and families.

I now wish to highlight some of the details of what the NCWI calls for. The introduction of the free preschool year was the first positive step to bringing Ireland on a par with other European countries. We recommend the introduction of a second preschool year, followed by an incremental implementation of a subsidised model of provision, linked to quality and based on a parent's ability to pay to a maximum capped level. This should also include out of school hours care. We have put forward suggestions in terms of how this can be incrementally achieved over a ten-year period. When we talk about quality child care here, it is important to realise that quality cannot be judged or assessed without taking into account the pay and conditions of child care workers. These must be central to this model. Child care is predominantly provided by women workers who are paid just above the minimum wage and yet we rightly require a high level of skills and expertise. Investment in a Nordic-type model would reap dividends, not just in terms of supporting children’s well-being and development, which is critical, but in terms of our long-term economic and social policies.

Another important detail concerns parental leave and the reconciliation of work and family life. International evidence shows that in the interests of children, the provision of leave for parents, particularly in the first year of a child’s life, is critical. The extension of maternity leave and benefit to 26 weeks was a positive step and was something we campaigned for and welcomed when introduced. It is important that maternity benefit and leave remain intact for mothers and we do not want to see this element shared. This is the view expressed to us by women and mothers. This benefit and leave is important for them and is important also in terms of recommendations from the WHO on breast feeding.

There is no statutory leave in Ireland for fathers at present and this is an important issue for the NWCI. We have been advocating leave for fathers for a long time because currently fathers are forced to use annual leave when their child is born. The absence of paternity leave also sends a strong message as to which parent should be the primary carer, thereby reinforcing gender stereotypes and gender inequality. There is an opportunity this year, whether through the budget or the forthcoming Family Leave Bill to provide statutory paid parental leave. We advocate that two weeks paternity leave should be provided as a separate leave entitlement for fathers when their child is born. We also suggest there should be an additional six months paid parental leave, through a social protection payment. I stress that this leave should be paid, because the current system of unpaid parental leave is of little use to parents.

Once again, we have a significant opportunity as Ireland moves out of recession to invest in a sustainable child care model that will benefit children, mothers, fathers and families. It is important that Deputies and Senators show leadership and advocate investment in this sustainable model. There is a danger that we will move into a short-term solution as we move towards a general election. While that is understandable, it is critical in terms of the interests of children, mothers and families that we consider a sustainable, long-term solution. This makes common sense, because we can afford this model.

The countries that invest are the most successful in economic and social terms. If we want to follow that path of success, we will have to change our model.