Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Deputies Funchion and Ó Laoghaire have outlined the working conditions of the child care workers. It is no wonder that those workers feel undervalued. We have certainly established that they are overworked. I thank and commend my colleague Deputy Funchion for the work she has done in this area because it needs to be highlighted.

Early Childhood Ireland research has shown that 36% of service providers who have tried to recruit staff in the past 12 months were unable to find anyone suitable. The same research showed that 46% of those who did manage to recruit had to settle for someone with lower qualifications than they wanted. That is a problem. I am a parent and my daughter was in a crèche. I am a grandparent and my grandson is in a crèche. I want to know and believe that the people who are looking after my daughter and grandson are well paid, well looked after and well regarded. It is very worrying when we see the statistics and that the work of these people is not valued. It should be valued because they are looking after our most precious resource, it could be argued. The high turnover of staff and the lack of staff in certain instances are not good for children. They are not good for their intellectual or emotional development. The OECD's Education at a Glance report highlighted that poor-quality early-years education and care harms a child's development. The Minister knows this very well. We should be nurturing our children. Parents do not want their children to be looked after in an environment where the workers providing the care and who are nurturing are not valued or respected and in which they are not paid appropriately. Of course, parents want affordable child care. That is vital. It is vital in my constituency, Dublin Fingal, which has the youngest population in the State. Of course we want affordable child care but not at the expense of the workers who are at the coalface providing it.

While the Government is demanding services, more highly qualified staff and the raising of standards, which are all welcome, it is hypocritical if the supports needed are not provided to the people who are delivering the care. It is the State's problem. It is the State's role to step in and regulate the sector. It is the State's role to ensure children can gain access to good quality child care that is affordable and delivered in a place where the workers are respected and treated decently, and where they have job security. The latter is very important, particularly because it is a female-dominated profession.

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