Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Dáil Éireann:notes that:

— child care provision in Ireland encompasses a mixed model of provision with services delivered through the community, private and public sector; there are approximately 4,300 child care centres in Ireland and approximately 23,000 staff work in the area;

— quality early childhood care and education is paramount for positive development outcomes for children;

— early childhood professionals play a vital role in supporting children and families at this foundation stage; and

— underinvestment in the early childhood sector is leading to lack of long-term sustainability, varying levels of quality provision, a high cost to parents and poor working conditions for the early childhood workforce;

further notes that:

— there is no child care cost support-tax relief for working parents;

— the cost of child care to parents is high with the annual cost of full-time child care for two children being €16,500 per year;

— support for children with disabilities-special educational needs is limited and inconsistent across the country;

— subsidised child care places are not equally accessible in all areas of the country;

— capitation rates for delivering the early childhood care and education, ECCE, scheme are insufficient for the majority of child care providers;

— the early childhood workforce cannot access the learner fund for higher level qualification;

— early childhood professionals are undervalued and under-resourced and have high employment insecurity; and

— current child care funding policy is absent of any supports for working families who do not avail of the community child care subvention, CCS, programme;

acknowledges that:

— children with special educational needs face too many challenges to avail of a preschool education which is tailored to suit their individual needs;

— mainstream early childhood services do not have appropriate funding or supports to provide equality of opportunity for children with special needs;

— there is a lack of a nationally agreed pay scale and low levels of remuneration for the early childhood workforce; and

— paid professional development opportunities are absent and the early childhood workforce is generally not paid for all of the work undertaken;

and

calls on the Government to:

— introduce a child care tax break for working families;

— provide a second full free preschool year for all children, particularly those with special needs;

— reinstate 2011 levels of capitation with regard to the ECCE scheme with immediate effect as an interim measure;

— increase investment from the current 0.4% to 0.7% on an incremental basis within the lifetime of the next Programme for Government;

— extend the CCS programme to enable children to access the programme in private child care services;

— publish and resource the early years strategy so that there is a blueprint for investment and policy development;

— extend eligibility for the existing learner fund to include all staff to access higher level qualifications to support on building on the current graduate level workforce;

— introduce an agreed national pay scale for child care workers;

and

— extend the ECCE capitation rate to cover statutory holiday pay, continual professional development and introduce an agreed national pay scale for child care workers.

I wish to share time with Deputies Dara Calleary, Colm Keaveney and Éamon Ó Cuív.

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