Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I want to keep the pressure on the Minister in respect of pay rates in the childcare and early years education sector. We have sight of a report, Pathways to Better Prospects: Delivering Proper Terms and Conditions for the Early Years Workforce in Ireland, of which the Minister will no doubt be aware. It was produced by the department of work and employment studies at the University of Limerick. The research was partly funded by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. The report states that the sustainability of the sector is under pressure because "[t]he unsustainability is evidenced by a 2019 survey which found that 65 per cent of 3,200 early years professionals do not expect to be working in the sector in five years’ time". When will there be a sectoral employment order or some such mechanism that ensures we can retain staff and pay them properly?

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