Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Tá áthas orm deis a fháil labhairt ar an rún seo a bhaineann le cúram leanaí. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta Funchion a rinne sár-obair ar an rún agus a chuir é os ár gcomhair. I commend Deputy Funchion on highlighting what is clearly an issue of major importance and relevance for thousands of working families across the State. For too many of them, the cost of childcare is equivalent to a mortgage. It is a significant financial burden that many families struggle to carry.

In budget 2019, it was announced that income thresholds for assessment under the national childcare scheme were to be raised substantially, with the maximum net threshold rising from €47,000 to €60,000 per annum. The purpose of the scheme as formulated was to ensure that the maximum subsidy rates would be paid to all families with a reckonable income of up to €26,000. According to the then Minister, Dr. Katherine Zappone, the scheme was supposed to be poverty proofed by ensuring that families at or below the relevant income poverty line would benefit from the highest subsidy rates under the scheme. That has not happened, however. Families are still making an enormous, and almost unsustainable, level of childcare payments to providers who, through no fault of their own, have faced unmanageable increases in operational costs such as insurance. Like many other businesses, they were treated disgracefully by the insurance sector.

Childcare providers need support urgently. A large number of them are struggling to get back on their feet. From speaking to many childcare providers in my constituency, I know that Government intervention is urgently required to sustain the sector, which some parents depend on as their preferred childcare option. Not all parents choose this option, of course, but it should be there for those who do.

In 2018, an ESRI study stated that the high cost of day care was leading to fewer working mothers and that "greater government support for childcare costs will increase maternal employment." For many women, it is a significant barrier to working. It is also a barrier to further education. I am aware of many young women who cannot pursue the careers or education they would like due to childcare costs.

The ESRI study stated that the high cost of childcare was a major issue, but as one stay-at-home father commented at the time, "The Government must not use this study to justify further big subsidies for day-care at the expense of other child-care options." Government support must be fair and balanced, all options need to be available to people and the childcare sector must be sustained. We cannot ignore those parents who want to mind their children in their own homes. All of them would prefer it if a family member minded them during the day. It is all about choice and preference. The State must support all parents equally regardless of their childcare preferences. That is the model that we should aim to work towards, one where both the providers and the parents are supported equally instead of an insistence on a one-size-fits-all approach that does not take into account what parents want for their children if given the choice.

I commend the childcare workers who work diligently and hard in preparing children for primary school. I saw this at first hand as a primary school principal. When the children came to school, they were fantastically prepared for primary education as a result of the roll-out of the Aistear programme. The childcare workers did fantastic work and a significant effort was made during the programme's roll-out. It was done to a high standard, efficiently and effectively. It is just unfortunate and disheartening to see that the workers are undervalued and underpaid and that morale is at an all-time low. This matter must be addressed urgently in addition to the many other issues I have highlighted previously.

It is evident that many cracks are starting to appear in the childcare sector. Rebuilding it and ensuring there is a solid foundation is urgently required and, indeed, the only way to proceed.

See this speech in context