Ms Irene Gunning:

My name is Ms Irene Gunning from Early Childhood Ireland. I am accompanied by Ms Teresa Heeney. We welcome the opportunity to make a presentation to the joint committee on this issue. Early Childhood Ireland is a national voluntary organisation and NGO, with more than 3,300 members who share its mission of enabling the provision of quality early childhood care and education in Ireland with positive outcomes for children. Our members operate full day care, playgroup and after-school services and have more than 40 years experience in the sector. It must be clarified that the majority of these services are small, private settings with an average of five to six child care professionals supporting on average 33 children. Some 76% of them have level 5 qualifications, which is a one-year post leaving certificate qualification. The average pay rate is €10.50 per hour.

Why are we here? What we saw on Tuesday, 28 May was totally unacceptable. The footage of children being manhandled, flipped, strapped into chairs, force-fed and shouted at has sparked a crisis of confidence in the sector and among parents. Moreover, we saw poorly trained staff who were disinterested in their work and services that appeared to have inadequate management and operated to a timetable designed to meet the needs of the setting and not the children. We were also confronted by an inspection regime that was inconsistent, not analytical and requiring an overhaul.

Children are citizens too. As a society, we have a duty to our youngest citizens and a vested interest in getting them off to the best possible start. As stated by the Minister and Mr. Jeyes, ideally children in every early childhood care setting should be happy. Children should laugh, make noise, play and be busy. Ideally, they should have materials, toys and equipment which enable children to become engaged indoors and outdoors. Adult care providers should take an interest in the children, know them and engage with the warmly, affectionately and responsively. They should understand their needs and follow their interests and strengths. These adults understand that children thrive in predictable consistent routines but need to be flexible so that when a child is busy doing something different from the rest of the children that interest is followed on. Nap time is an individual thing and predictable routines require flexibility. This can happen. I have worked in services where this happens. There are many good services throughout the country.

We have a five-point plan to address issues. I would like first to highlight some matters that have been already mentioned but require emphasis. Early childhood matters. In particular, quality counts. Poor quality services at best make no difference and at worst can lead to negative outcomes for children. We know that training and mentoring are key. The evidence from Northern Ireland is compelling. It has invested not only in a universal year, but also in mandatory training and mentoring. The recent scores on the international literacy and mathematical ratings, such as PIRLS and TIMSS, show it to be far ahead of the Republic of Ireland. Whether it is centre-based or childminding, private or community, children need to get the best care and quality we can provide. We must develop the mechanisms, structures and sanctions to ensure best quality. It must be remembered that quality is systemic and requires and involves relationships with children, families, staff, management, training organisations and inspectors. We have a collective responsibility to ensure quality services. While the "Prime Time" programme was shocking, there was an amazing outpouring of goodwill from parents to service providers throughout the country, many welcoming that their children were being cared for by a particular service and in some instances bringing them gifts and so on.

My colleague, Ms Heeney, will now outline our five-point plan.