Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This morning, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs launched a report prepared by her Department on the early years sector. It is a comprehensive survey with responses from almost 4,000 childcare services across the State. Its findings, however, do not paint a pretty picture. The findings in respect of the cost of childcare reinforce the point which was made time and again by my colleague, Deputy Denise Mitchell, particularly in the budget debate where she outlined that the cost of childcare in this State is among the highest in the developed world. That is a massive issue with a wider social and economic impact.

The reality is that the cost of providing childcare amounts to a second mortgage every month for many families. It makes more sense for some of them for one or other parent to opt out of the workforce due to the scandalous costs involved. That simply is not right and cannot continue.

The average cost of childcare, as outlined in the report, is €178 per week or more than €700 per month. In many parts of this State, it costs more than €200 per week in some areas, including in the Tánaiste's city of Cork.

In my county, Donegal, we have seen costs rise year on year at the second highest level across the State, at €15 per week. It is ludicrous that we are seeing those types of increases for hard-pressed families. In addition, the report finds that capacity is decreasing and the number of available spaces in the sector is falling. Separate from this morning's report but crucially linked are the difficulties in the sector and the challenges faced by thousands of childcare workers. It is a sector which, in many cases, pays well below the living wage which means that we are losing experienced, well-trained childcare workers who are going into other professions. These are skilled, trained workers who are being let down. When we lose them, it means we are losing places and have a lower quality service in the early years, which are crucial for our child's development. We cannot just keep our fingers crossed and hope that this will change. We need to actively work towards fair pay for workers in the sector.

High quality, affordable childcare is socially and academically beneficial to children. We all know that. It also benefits society and the economy by allowing parents to return to work. We need an early years sector that we can be truly proud of, which we do not have at this point, given the costs and the low pay within the sector. Will the Tánaiste accept that the system is desperately in need of support? Does he accept that there needs to be reform of the universal childcare subsidy with increased investment by the State to help offset the cost to these families? Does he accept we need to see an increase in capitation grants to support providers in delivering quality childcare? Does he accept that there is a need for a sector-wide pay agreement to ensure that every childcare worker in the sector receives, at a minimum, the living wage?

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