Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for their contributions. It is a key priority for me as the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to improve the affordability, accessibility and quality of early learning and care, ELC, and school age childcare, SAC. Historically, there have been low levels of investment in ELC and SAC in this country, although in the past five years we have seen a 141% increase in investment. That stands now at €638 million per year. This increase has funded a second year of the early childhood care and education, ECCE, preschool programme, an access and inclusion model, AIM, and enabled the introduction of the national childcare scheme, NCS.

Deputy Murnane O'Connor referred to First 5, the whole-of-government strategy for babies, young children and their families. That was published in 2018 and committed to at least doubling our investment in ELC arid SAC by 2028. A key vehicle for ensuring that such significant investment delivers for children and families will be the new funding model. An expert group is leading on this work, which will include the development of appropriate mechanisms to fund services that will improve affordability, quality and sustainability and address issues such as staff pay and controls on fees paid by parents. The expert group has undertaken extensive research and consultation and I expect to receive its recommendations in November of this year. Its work has been informed by an in-depth process of stakeholder engagement and consultation, undertaken to capture the perspectives of parents, those who work in the sector, providers and representative groups. Included in the expert group's terms of reference is a mandate to explore how greater public management of the sector, supported by greater public investment, can help deliver these policy objectives.

The draft guiding principles developed by the expert group states:

The funding model should be based on an acceptance that ELC/SAC is a public good... It should seek to support the delivery of this public value through the provision of high quality, affordable, accessible, and sustainable ELC and SAC services.

It also states that the funding model should make best use of the available public management tools. I expect this principle will inform the report of the group.

In recent months, I have met representative groups from the ELC and SAC sector to discuss, among other issues, the level of funding in the sector. These meetings have been really useful in orientating me and my Department's plans. In terms of budget 2022, my officials and I have received and considered pre-budget submissions from a number of representative groups and this will inform our budget bid.

Both Deputies raised the issue of pay and I firmly believe the level of pay in the sector does not reflect the value of the work that early learning and childcare practitioners do for children, families and society. I am doing all in my power to address this. As the Deputies are aware, the State is not the employer and the Department does not set wage levels but my Department has provided a range of supports to service providers to enable them to provide better wages and working conditions, higher capitation for graduate payments and support for school age childcare to make it more attractive.

Last December, working in partnership with SIPTU and Childhood Services Ireland-IBEC, I began a short process investigating the potential of a joint labour committee for the sector and how it might support a better wage rate. We engaged Dr. Kevin Duffy, former chair of the Labour Court, to chair the process. Following that, I wrote to the Minister of State, Deputy English, and he has since signed an establishment order for a JLC for the early years sector. I regard this as an extremely significant and welcome development. I know it has been welcomed by both employers and workers in the sector.

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