Ms Teresa Heeney:

I am the CEO of Early Childhood Ireland. My colleague, Ms Valerie McArdle, our policy officer, is with me. I thank the Chair and committee members for their invitation to discuss the acute problem of child poverty and deprivation.

Early Childhood Ireland is the leading children's advocacy and membership organisation. We work in partnership with our 4,000 plus members who operate early years services to achieve inclusive, high-quality experiences for every child in early years, school-age care settings, and in childminders' homes.

"The accident of birth is a major source of inequality" said the Nobel prize winning economist, Dr. James Heckman. A recent ESRI report provides supporting evidence for Heckman's concept, showing the long-term consequences for children born into disadvantage. It found that adults who experience childhood poverty are more likely to experience income poverty, material deprivation, poor health and unemployment or inactivity.

Crucially, there is a large body of evidence to suggest that these negative outcomes can be reduced when children participate in high-quality early childhood education. Participation can narrow developmental and socioeconomic gaps, enabling children to develop skills that are vital for success in life, education and work. It also allows families to participate in the labour market, education and training.

OECD research found that in Ireland, 54% of children from birth to two years of age from high-income families were enrolled in a formal early years setting, compared with only 7% of children from lower income families. The Government's own research found that fewer Traveller and Roma children avail of the ECCE programme when compared with the general population. These enrolment gaps highlight the need for comprehensive strategies to address barriers faced by disadvantaged households.

I will discuss some of the barriers. The equal start funding, which was introduced in 2024 was very welcome. It is currently only available to just 17% of settings in the country. Ireland still has no legal obligation to provide or guarantee a place in an early years setting for children. First 5 includes a commitment to "introduce a universal legal entitlement to pre-school" but this has not been delivered.

Ireland spends less than 0.2% of its GDP on early childhood education, compared with 0.9% of GDP, on average, across OECD countries. Due to poor pay and conditions, many settings have difficulty recruiting and retaining staff, which can lead to a reduction in services, and delayed capacity and expansion plans for providers and operators.

Many families cannot secure an early years place. There are over 62,000 children on a waiting list, 40,000 of whom are under the age of three.

Fees for parents remain among the highest in the OECD countries. The access and inclusion model, which is very welcome, remains limited only to children who participate in the ECCE programme. Attendance rules which require settings to record and report on children’s attendance to ensure the payment of the national childcare scheme, the ECCE programme and the access and inclusion model make it harder for settings to support vulnerable families. Regular attendance can be a challenge for children from disadvantaged groups due to a myriad of problems, including parental capacity, unstable housing conditions, transport and others. The most effective investment the Government can make to reduce child poverty is to provide a strong start in a child’s earliest years. Access to high-quality and inclusive early years experience is fundamental to this. Ireland should be brought up to the OECD investment average. Finally, Early Childhood Ireland believes that bringing early years graduates under public sector pay and conditions in line with teachers would go a long way in removing many barriers to early years and school-age care such as capacity and accessibility challenges for many disadvantaged families. I am happy to discuss the proposal as we continue our discussion.