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

I welcome the witnesses and thank them for their insightful presentations, which were not only excellent but also provided some clear recommendations and solutions which will be very useful to us as we move forward. I am sure the members of the committee will agree that without the input of witnesses and meeting people who are at the coal face our report would be worthless. It is important that we know what they are thinking.

Yesterday, some of us attended the launch of "Picture Your Rights", a report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child from Children Living in Ireland, compiled by children of all ages and supported by the Children's Rights Alliance and UNICEF Ireland. The report stated that 1,148,687 children are living in this State and account for 25% of the population. That emphasises the need to invest in children.

I also thank the witnesses for the work they are doing. I am sure they are not thanked often enough, but parents are extremely thankful for the work they do. As part of my work as special rapporteur I have conducted a number of outreach meetings around the country and met many providers from both the private and community sectors. We have also met with parents and workers. A common theme emerged from those meetings and it also came through in the presentations today, that what is needed is affordable, accessible, quality child care and a substantial investment in child care. We would all agree on that. The other main issues that arose are wages, terms and conditions and whether qualified professionals should be asked to be at a loss financially. They should not. There are also the issues of not being able to get mortgages and car loans, only being able to work 38 weeks of the year and having to sign on the dole. That is absolutely unacceptable for qualified professionals.

I wish to tease out a number of questions. Many other issues have been covered and will be covered by other members of the committee today, but a few have arisen on which people might have different views. One is the concern of some regarding an emphasis by the Government on a degree-led workforce in child care. Some people expressed the view that quality of care is often only gained with practical experience. If a pay scale is introduced that only reflects academic skills, is this not unfair to those who have been working in the sector for years who have fewer academic credentials? Perhaps the witnesses would give their views on that.

Another question arose with regard to the community employment, CE, schemes. How can participants in the CE scheme be used fairly and in a way that does not replace regular employees? Concern has been raised about the inconsistency of employment numbers of CE participants from centre to centre. How do we strike a balance without displacement? Also, is there an over-reliance on CE workers?

With regard to capitation, must all or part of the moneys be returned and paid back if missing the 20 days? I am not clear about that. Must it be returned for the entire year or is it just in part?

The subvention issue arose frequently. Should everybody be able to avail of the subvention, both private and community, bearing in mind that in many areas people do not have access to community service providers? I am anxious to hear the views of the witnesses on that. On the issue of grant applications, how should this be improved and made more accessible to providers? There is an issue with regard to private owners not being able to access grants. Does that put them at a disadvantage? Does it put the children who are attending their crèches at a disadvantage also?

I had a few questions about special needs but we have been informed that the Minister is examining this with the Department of Education and Skills and will report back by September. There is a recognition that the current system is not fit for purpose. I would welcome getting that report this morning, but we will have to wait and see what emerges from it. Do the witnesses agree that two full years of preschool provision should be a right, regardless of how the time is split up? There have been issues with regard to children with special needs perhaps attending two days and three days, but sometimes children are not identified or assessed as having special needs until towards the end of a year and might not be suitable for mainstream school. Unless the parents can afford to send the children to preschool in the gap year, the children must stay at home. Should a child with special needs have a right to get two preschool years, regardless of how many days they wish to attend? In addition, it was pointed out to us that if attendance is split up into two days and three days, when the child goes to mainstream school they must attend for five full days immediately. What are the witnesses' views on that?