Ms Frances Byrne:

We know there is a lot of what I think researchers call churn within the sector. People are moving within the sector, but undoubtedly people are also leaving it.

In ECI every September and January our employer service, which is an information and advice phone line, is inundated with really concerned members because people have signalled that they are not coming back or have not come back. Last September we had members all across the country telling us that people were leaving. A particular retailer was mentioned. I will not give it free advertising here. It was not that the entry-level wage was that much higher. Members were being told by departing staff that in moving into retail, they were guaranteed increases over the forthcoming years. The employer was able provide them with a pay scale. My colleague, Ms Heeney, often jokes, though not in a facetious way, that among the 4,500 providers, there are 4,500 pay scales. There are providers that try really hard to provide a pay scale. The problem is that Ireland is the joint lowest investor in the EU. The money is not coming in, so we have very high staff turnover, low pay and, unfortunately, the highest proportion of fees from take-home pay across the EU.

It is a mixed picture. For the sake of babies and children, it is a very bad indicator. I think everybody would agree with that. One of the reasons groups like ours highlight it is because that link with quality of relationship and consistency with babies and children is so important. It is vital, as we said earlier, that this is a focus of the next Government. Workforce development and the funding model are intertwined and that needs to be a priority.