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

The Minister will accept that finding solutions to the problem of childcare in the midst of a pandemic is no easy task. That difficulty was compounded by the fact the early years sector in particular, prior to the pandemic, felt it was unheard and disrespected, and that its solutions were only nominally accepted. Recently, I participated in a Zoom call with SIPTU and the early years sector. The message was very clear. This is a sector full of hope but it is being continually let down.

The Minister will be aware SIPTU recently launched its early years professionals survey. The survey shows that 67% of early years educators earn below the living wage of €12.30 per hour and 90% of all professionals struggle to make ends meet. Sick pay, maternity pay, pensions and other basic conditions are virtually non-existent. Some 38% of early years professionals are actively looking for a job outside the sector, and this rises to 42% of room leaders, where most graduates are employed.

From what I understand, SIPTU is calling for the establishment of a joint labour committee, as promised in the programme for Government, and this would allow the introduction of an early years pay scale. What we also need is for the small-scale early child care providers to be supported with financial supports and measures.

The other issue I want to raise is that of waiting lists in Laois and Offaly for occupational therapy and speech therapy. I have raised the issue several times because children with special needs are really suffering. In Laois-Offaly currently, 2,014 children are waiting for occupational therapy and 1,453 children are waiting for speech therapy. I have already put forward a possible solution. Given there are regions that do not have the same backlogs as Laois-Offaly, could the staff from those regions be redeployed until the backlog of children is cleared in Laois-Offaly? This is a pragmatic solution and while recruitment is ongoing, I think it is a fair solution. I ask the Government to take that on board.

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