Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. O'Connor and Ms Reynolds for their powerful contributions. I have been a childcare provider and an advocate for the childcare sector and for workers in the sector for some time. I have been a mentor with the childcare committees and a troubleshooter who tries to resolve issues. I understand, therefore, the chronic shortage of staff and the fact that many good people were lost because of a lack of grandfathering practices when the regulations were introduced in 2016, and the burden of administration such that even the preschool regulations seem to be orientated towards avoiding the risk of litigation rather than the practical provision of childcare. Even the manner in which the Garda vetting is conducted, whereby it does not travel with the employee, is in itself causing real difficulty. I am very much aware of the challenges in the sector and greatly value our guests' intervention.

I am part of my party's policy lab committee and over recent months, we have been running a policy lab on the care of the child. One message that has emerged relates to the underdevelopment of early childhood policy and the fact that we need a seismic shift in how we view childcare and how central it needs to be. It needs to be universally available, community based and provided, and operated on a campus model. We have listened to parents, providers and, most important, early years professionals.

I would like to talk about the JLC and my hopes for what will come out of it, such as a standard, a career structure and a career plan in order that people can plan for the rest of their lives and know they can get a mortgage or pay the rent.

Early years professionals need to be honoured for the professionalism and the role that they have in our society. I hear tell of the JLC taking a long time. Do the witnesses have any information that could illuminate when we might have an outcome? What outcomes would the witnesses want beyond remuneration, which should be well beyond the living wage, and more? Beyond that, what would the witnesses like to see as a priority in the JLC?