Michelle Mulherin (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I also welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. Everybody agrees that children are the future of our country. With all that we know now about educational development and giving them the best start, it is known that the younger we start to provide educational stimulation and a certain type of care and encouragement to children, the more they can realise their potential in the future and at other stages of education as they progress into primary, secondary and third level education and be well-rounded citizens.

As many people have said, until recent years child care was very ad hocand hit and miss. One of the new portfolios introduced by the Government was that of Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, in recognition of the importance of the very young children in our society. I acknowledge the €260 million which is spent each year to support early childhood care and education through the various programmes in place. It differs very much from what we see in primary and secondary schools, in other areas of education and in the care of our children in that much of it has been delivered by those working in the private sector. Very often they, with assistance from the State, spend money on buildings, ensure they comply with regulations and work with the HSE to make sure that standards are being constantly adhered to. There are also community providers. It is a very dynamic area. Private service providers in my county want to ensure the very best standards, quality, care and education are offered to the children with whom they deal and are keen to work with the authorities on regulations and standards. This should always be encouraged, as such providers have significant financial and work related stakes in this area.

As has been alluded to, however, there are difficulties. Some cases have been brought to my attention recently where couples or individuals have to think twice before they have a child. If people are working and have a second child, the cost of child care can be prohibitive in terms of allowing women, for the most part, to return to work. This issue enters into the decision-making process of whether people have children, which is quite a serious thing to say. There are now all sorts of families in existence which have children who grow up and flourish, but the nuclear family is declining in number in our society.

Points have been made about the level of investment in child care and its cost. We spend 0.2% of GDP on it, compared with the European average of 0.7%, and this shows us that we need to do more, invest more and ensure that standards are uniform, not just in one area but throughout the country. If that is done, we can all rest assured that standards are being universally applied and children are being looked after in the right way.

There needs to be support for parents and we need to realise these are very pressing times. We do not want to see children being put at a disadvantage or losing out on opportunities and parents not being able to return to work because of this issue. I welcome the measure announced in the previous budget whereby people could retain some of the dependent child aspect of their social welfare payments if they returned to work. More of these supports are required, and that is the reality that will bite in terms of what we want to see happen with child care in the future.

I understand that the average wage of people working in the child care sector, some of whom are very highly educated and have spent a lot of time studying education, is €11 per hour. It would seem that although we want standards to be maintained, we need to realise we need to pay for that.

I am very hopeful that the matter will be addressed because the commitment is in place. There are many child care support programmes and supports in communities. I welcome in particular the cross-departmental group, which is examining how we will invest in child care services and what the sector will look like. The fact that it is cross-departmental and under the watch of the Minister means that everybody has a stake in it. The care of children transcends any one Department.

What is most crucial is that those we expect to do the job, namely, child care service providers, are an intrinsic part of how we decide to proceed. They have in mind the best outcomes for the children they look after and have some fantastic ideas. I would encourage the communication and consultation which is taking place to continue. I want us to move towards having the kind of child care service we need in this country.

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