Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank everybody for their contributions, including the Minister and Minister of State. They will be aware it is an issue I have been talking about for a long time. I welcome some aspects because we seem to be largely in agreement but it would not be the first time we have been in a debate where people are saying they are in agreement, yet their actions perhaps do not always match that. I like to see people talking about the workers and the wages in the sector, the providers and the sustainability issue, and the issue of fees. They have always been the three key issues. Looking at the positives, I feel that message is at least getting out there.

I first brought forward a motion on this issue in 2017. That was after a committee report. Deputy Rabbitte, now a Minister of State, was on that committee. There was unanimous support both for that report and the motion that night in the Dáil. Despite that we did not really see any changes. I appreciate neither the Minister nor the Minister of State were in their posts then but in July 2020, shortly after the Government was formed, one of the first motions we brought was on early years childcare, and here we are a year and three months later. When the Minister and Minister of State say they have a new funding model and a new vision, many people are wondering when that is actually going to kick in. I think the Minister saw for himself how welcoming people from the sector actually were when he went out and spoke to them. Nobody expects this to happen overnight. Everybody knows it is going to take time and significant investment. That is where we must get to. We must get to a publicly funded early years sector and it will take time but we must see some action. We must see the start of that. You cannot have a plan on paper and expect people to constantly have trust and faith in you if they do not see any actions coming out of that. That is one of the keys.

I am really hopeful we will see the start of that investment in next week's budget, in terms of the workers, providers and fees for parents. We can all tell countless stories, all day and all night, about the various issues. We heard some examples at the committee today from those working in the sector who cannot afford unexpected expenses. To actually go and be qualified and do a degree and be working for years and to still be in that situation is very disheartening. Providers, who are largely women and who possibly started out with this service in their home and it perhaps grew from there, are now all of a sudden totally bogged down in paperwork and regulation. Nobody has an issue with rules and regulations, particularly when it comes to children, but there must be a commonsense approach to that as well. I always try to focus on the three issues of fees, sustainability and wages but obviously there are other issues too, including around the inspections and perhaps having one body to do them. I always keep to those issues to try to focus the mind.

I will finish with a quote from someone who works in the early years sector and who was in contact with me over the weekend. What he said was very simple:

We cannot continue as we are. We need a new, fairer way for everyone.

That sums it up. It really is that simple. As I said, no-one expects this to be done overnight but they do expect something they can actually hold on to. Somebody at committee today said they need that hope, that level of hope. There needs to be something in the budget next week and I really hope there will be. As I said, we cannot support the amendment. I do not support it and I am disappointed. It is coming up on six years now since 2016 and that is how long I have been raising this issue. Some people in here will say that is not very long but to me it seems like a very long time to be constantly raising the same issue. The message is perhaps getting across a little bit more but we still have to do something tangible and something people can see and hold on to. We will not be supporting the amendment. I look forward to the budget next week. I really hope there is something in it for those working in the sector, those providing in it, for the parents who rely on it and ultimately for our children, who benefit from this. Sometimes, in the middle of it all, we forget the benefits the early years sector offers children.

See this speech in context