Ms Teresa Heeney:

I thank the committee for the opportunity to present here today. I will not repeat the background information about our sector, which is included in our written submission. Suffice to say that Ireland is the joint lowest per capitainvestor in early years care and education in the European Union. Our sector was already facing a diverse set of challenges on 12 March when the Government announced the closure of all childcare settings. A number of key events have occurred since for which the timeline is outlined in table 5 of our submission.

As it stands, the primary focus of many settings is the re-opening that is scheduled to take place next Monday, 29 June. The past three months have been extremely challenging for the early years sector. From the sudden closure of settings in March, to the extension of the closure to the lack of clarity beyond August, the uncertainty is having a profoundly stressful impact on providers. We acknowledge the additional supports that were provided to early years settings by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs as part of both the bespoke wage subsidy scheme and in the reopening package. However, the need for special measures is in itself a tacit acceptance of the pre-existing precarious nature of the sector. The issues of insurance, staff recruitment and retention and the viability of settings have not gone away and have, if anything, been exacerbated by the Covid-19 crisis.

Early years care and education is an essential service that allows a society and economy to function. This will become even more apparent post-Covid as people adapt to non-traditional working arrangements. Aside from the rights of babies and children to avail of high-quality early years experiences, a well resourced and sustainable early years system will be essential for this new economy to function.

When settings reopen next week, parents should not be expected to pay higher fees for the same or less service in order to ensure sustainability. The answer to this is not direct payments to parents or tax-breaks to offset costs, rather it is ramping up investment in the national childcare scheme and implementation of the First 5 strategy. The progressive universalism as outlined in First 5 must remain central to investment.

Lack of clarity on the post-Covid funding model after August is causing anxiety to providers, who are planning for reopening on 29 June with no clarity on the financial model which will be in place after the summer. This is also true of settings that will reopen for the first time in September. Central government needs urgently to engage with the sector and develop a plan on how funding needs will be met. It must be acknowledged, however, that our sector is extremely diverse and problems cannot be resolved with a one size fits all solution.

While providers have largely been on board with the reopening guidelines, and this is as a result of proper stakeholder engagement, time will be needed to allow children and practitioners adjust to the new normal and work out the kinks. Additional capital grants funding will need to be made available swiftly to ensure that settings can meet their obligations under the new guidelines, and to meet capacity and distancing requirements which will impact on staff and parents.

Increased capacity must not be at the expense of staffing levels or sacrificing quality standards. The pre-existing issues with regard to recruiting and retaining staff will have been exacerbated by Covid as some workers elect not to return to work and travel restrictions inhibit the return or recruitment of workers from outside Ireland. The Government needs to give serious consideration to how staffing levels can be maintained in this context.

We welcome the highlighting of the role grandparents and other family members play in providing care and support but public funding needs to remain focused on consolidating the fragmented care and education sector. We include childminders in this cohort, whom 87% of the public wish to receive Garda vetting and basic training for their important roles.

The Covid-19 pandemic had an immediate and profound impact on the early years and school-age sector. The response from Government was salutary, in that the provision of a bespoke wage subsidy scheme, which covered 100% of staff wages, acknowledged the fragility of our member settings. On the other hand, this also demonstrated recognition of the importance of childcare to the rest of society and economy.

The Government and other policymakers now have an unprecedented opportunity to act to increase investment in the sector, as envisaged in the First 5 strategy. Early Childhood Ireland recommends that, along with a funding plan which brings Ireland from the bottom to the top of the EU investment plan, the actions envisaged in First 5 to develop a new funding model and a proper workforce plan are prioritised without delay.