Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I compliment the Early Childhood Ireland representatives on the work they do. They have been working constructively in this area for a long time and their contribution to the debate is really important.

By and large, we all welcome the scheme. I maintain it needs more money but its introduction is welcome. I suggest it needs more money because the focus is on making it cheaper for parents and families, and that is fair enough.

Some of us were at a presentation in the audio-visual room yesterday from Department officials. They gave us a great deal of information on how the scheme would actually work for individual families with different levels of income. The presentation provided details in respect of people with lower levels of income who already have supports under the current scheme and how they will benefit from the new scheme. The presentation was informative but it made the assumption - I imagine the assumption is reflected in the figures - that parents would benefit entirely from the extra money. However, one thing was left out and that was the question of low pay in the sector. The fact that the work is not year-round and that there is no continuous professional development written into the costings presents a problem. I am keen to hear from Early Childhood Ireland around that area.

We all know of the highly qualified and highly motivated people in the sector who want to continue a career in early childhood and who are passionate about the importance of the early years for children. However, they are living on the minimum wage in some cases and low wages in general. This is because anything else is not affordable for the providers. In many cases the providers are the owners of the operations. In the case of small operations they are probably trying to run the whole thing and survive at the same time. Affordability for the sector is crucial. How does Early Childhood Ireland envisage what needs to be done to give the role the status of someone teaching in a primary school, for example? In primary school the children are a little older. Although teachers might complain about pay levels there is recognition of the fact that they have to live for the whole year and not only term time. My question is really around that.

I have a second question around the monitoring of the access and inclusion model programme. It is important to monitor the programme and give the relevant information to parents, because many parents who have children with special needs are not yet aware that the new scheme is available to them.