Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As a signatory to the motion, I support it. I will speak specifically about the early years sector and quote from the most recent Pobal report, The Early Years Sector Profile Report 2017-2018, because it paints a particular picture of the state of the sector. I will also speak specifically for the workers within the sector, in the first instance, because there are clear issues with wages and the high level of qualifications required, combined with the lack of commensurate pay structures to reflect them. There is also an issue in retaining staff.

I will quote from the early years sector profile report, with which the the Minister, Deputy Zappone, will be very familiar, as she wrote the foreword. The report shows that the average wage of an early years assistant is €11.20 per hour across 48% of all staff within the sector. That figure is 70 cent lower than the so-called living wage. The average rate of pay for all staff working directly with children is approximately €12.17 per hour. The report is very interesting. It also addresses those who have high qualifications but earn low wages. For instance, 60% of those working directly with children earn less than the living wage. The report also shows that job title has the biggest influence on wages, followed by length of time in the sector and length of time in a particular service. Qualifications was the fourth most important factor, accounting for a figure of 10% when it comes to exerting influence on how wages are calculated. This shows that there is a certain degree of informality in the sector which is not, as we know, recognised as a sector in its own right. There are disparate wage rates across it.

The issue of qualifications is important. Staff in the sector are becoming more qualified, with 94% having level 5 qualifications or higher. The figure was 92% in 2016-17 and 88% in 2015-16. For level 6 qualifications, the figure is 65%. It was 63% last year and 56% in 2015-16. We are seeing a gradual rise in the level of educational attainment. Despite this, 57%, or 2,256 services, report having problems in finding suitably qualified staff to fill vacancies. That figure has increased by 10% since last year. Some of the figures I am quoting are taken directly from the report. The Minister has acknowledged that skilled and highly qualified staff are a vital component of childcare provision.

She said that the report also highlighted the ongoing issue of staff wages and that she was fully aware that retaining qualified staff remained a concern for many services.

What we need to see is a commitment from Government, or at least a greater degree of energy from Government, to address the issue of the retention rates within the sector. What we are clearly seeing from the evidence of campaigns like the Big Start campaign by SIPTU, for example, is that the rate of attrition from the sector is too high. There is no formal sectoral employment order. It is increasingly difficult to organise workers within the sector. It is quite challenging because of the disparate nature of the sector.

I trust I am not misquoting the Minister on the matter but she has acknowledged the potential impact of a sectoral employment order, something to which she has given words of support in the past. If it was put in a formal setting, then we could at least address the retention rates, recognise the qualifications of workers and prevent the high rate of attrition. People are going off to other sectors to become special needs assistants or teachers or even emigrating and working in the same sector abroad.

Those of us in the House need to recognise the issues around that. The Government should come to the table or at least be more proactive in recognising the need. The Minister is talking about expanding services. The Minister has referred to increasing her budget line year-on-year on a cumulative basis for this sector. She will tell us how her budget line is increasing, I imagine, when she is on her feet presently. There is no point in increasing the budget line, although it is necessary, if the rate of attrition of staff is increasing year on year. The early years sector profile report is showing us clear evidence of that. We cannot ask services to take on more additionality or children if the capability or capacity is not there because of a lack of staffing and that is a major issue.

I wish to acknowledge the work of the Big Start campaign. Those of us across the political divide have given our support to the campaign. Politically, everyone in the House has acknowledged the validity of the campaign and the need to organise workers across the sector. We can start that process with the sectoral employment order. That would address issues like pay, pensions and sick pay. It would build a strong coherent voice for the sector. Individual Deputies should not be coming into the House, at this late stage in 2019, when we do not even have a formal structured affordable childcare scheme up and running. There should be no need for the workers to have to continue to organise themselves in order that they can get a sectoral employment order. This should have been achieved a long time ago. Perhaps now is the time for Government to address this. Given the Minister's commitment or support for the idea of the workers being organised, perhaps she could intervene to try to influence matters by being as proactive as she possibly can.

I put down a question for the Minister on the affordable childcare scheme last year. I wanted to know when the affordable childcare scheme would be formally up and running. An announcement was made in budget 2019. Yet, if I am interpreting the Minister correctly we will not see the roll-out of the affordable childcare scheme until the end of this year. By any rational analysis, it is fair to assume that it may not actually take place until 2020. I asked the Minister when the affordable childcare scheme would be up and running or put in place. She replied that work was currently ongoing on the secondary legislation and the formal policy guidelines. She said work was currently ongoing on the development of the regulations and that the regulations would be introduced in advance of the affordable childcare scheme to allow school-age childcare services to register and thereby participate in the scheme from its inception. The Minister went on to say that the scheme's information and communications technology system had concluded the full public procurement process and that the contract was awarded. She said work was under way on the governance, administrative and communication elements of the scheme. She continued:

Consultation and engagement with stakeholders is ongoing and, in the new year, a comprehensive awareness campaign will be launched for parents and the public, alongside training and information supports for childcare providers and other key stakeholders. Finally, Budget 2019 provided for enhancements to the scheme which will ensure that an even greater number of families will now benefit from the scheme once launched.

In the few seconds remaining to me I want to get a sense from the Minister of where the architecture of the affordable childcare scheme is at this point. That is one of the key questions we have on this side of the House. I also want to ask the Minister about the recent Pobal and ESRI report on the link between the cost of childcare and the fact that there are lower rates of access to childcare among those who are lone parents. The issue is one this society needs to deal with and I hope the Minister will respond to that. Thank you for your latitude with time, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

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