Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I join others in thanking the witnesses for their contributions today and for the clarity of thought they bring to these proceedings. The messages they are imparting to us are well rehearsed, perhaps, in that they have spoken on these challenges previously. My first question relates to the temporary wage subsidy scheme. If it is the case that public funding accounts for approximately 58% of wages in the sector, is it now time to consider continuing with the temporary wage subsidy scheme for the providers who will reopen in September and to use that as a launch pad to build out the employment rights and proper wages akin to people's qualifications, so we can get the wages element of this resolved once and for all? There was an opportunity, which was articulated very well to me by Darragh O'Connor of SIPTU recently, whereby this could have been a launch pad for resolving the wages element of this. We see the high rates of attrition and the fact that some people will now cease to avail of the temporary wage subsidy scheme as it relates to the childcare sector. This has created a massive amount of uncertainty, which the witnesses have just articulated. Perhaps it is time for the State to fund paying wages in a way that is done in primary and post-primary schools.