Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this issue, which is important to all of us. I compliment Sinn Féin on introducing the motion and giving us an opportunity to discuss and debate it.

I listened to the Minister's opening address. He pointed out that there are three different sections that need to be dealt with in order for the service to work right. I will give my thoughts on the three separate parts of the service. One of these relates to early educators. What we need to do for them is give them recognition. I spent nearly ten years lecturing in the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, GMIT. When you see students come into first year and go out four years later with a degree, you expect that they will get an income that is reasonable and that there is a career path for them, continuing professional development, and that they can aspire to go wherever they want. There should be no limits to what they can do in terms of the choices they make. In educating people, we sold them a pup by telling them that they would have great careers, particularly when they have ended up getting less than the minimum wage. They are leaving the industry. I know people in my constituency who have done that. The reason they are leaving is because they are totally demoralised and have decided to follow another path. We have done a disservice to the young people who were brave enough to take on the challenge after their leaving certificate and to become educated. We have not shown them the respect they deserve for what they have done. It is important that we calibrate our minds in terms of what we need to do in that regard.

The Minister mentioned sustainability in the context of the early years providers. Again, what they need to know is how the service will be funded and supported by central government. The sector faces lots of challenges, but the biggest is trying to get staff. Costs, including those relating to insurance, are out of control at times. In my constituency, a childcare service has closed. It did not reopen in September for the simple reason that the owners could not afford to run it and were better off doing something else. The service is a huge loss to the rural community where it was located.

We talk about the affordability of the childcare service for families in a glib way, but the cost of childcare is outside the bounds of most working people. How can we encourage parents, men and women, to go to work, to provide a basis for our economy? We have been encouraging women in particular to get educated, go to school and third level, get a degree and get a career. Parents find that they are fighting fires all the time between trying to look after their children and trying to work. The stress of what they are going through sometimes outweighs the benefits. Parents should be enjoying life and the fact that they have children. It should be the happiest days of their lives with their young children. I am afraid that with the bundling we do in lots of cases in terms of the fast track of life, we have forgotten that children need to be cared for and that parents need to know this is being done properly.

When thinking about this issue, it strikes me that when I was growing up, my mother was at home. She did not get past sixth class in her education. She raised the family while my father went out to work. There were seven children in the family and there were no childminding services at that time. Times have changed and society has changed. The work ethic has changed, but the only thing that has not changed is that we have not been able to provide the services to back up the changes. I look forward the opportunity to do that in the upcoming budget.

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