Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

First, I would like to commend my colleague, Deputy Funchion, on bringing this motion forward and, indeed, on all the work she does on raising awareness around the issue of the exorbitant childcare costs. Childcare fees are far too high. They average at €200 a week per child. That is €800 a month, or even up to about €1,300 a month in some areas. It is like a second mortgage for families. People cannot afford to continue to pay such exorbitant fees.

The proposals in the Government’s budget 2022 simply do not go far enough. They will lock in fees that are at a completely unaffordable level as it is. Fees need to be reduced. Deputy Funchion and Sinn Féin’s proposal would see fees reduced by two thirds - by one third in the first year and by one third in the second year. It would see the Government taking on the cost of staff wages for childcare services in exchange for the services cutting fees for parents. That is a sensible policy response to deal with the spiralling cost of childcare. As it is, some of the professionals who work in the childcare sector have level 7 or level 8 degrees and they are being paid the minimum wage. They are leaving the jobs and going to other jobs. Childcare providers tell me they cannot retain staff and that it is a huge issue and a huge problem.

Controlling childcare fees is not rare and is not uncommon. In fact, the vast majority of countries in Europe do so, according to the European Commission. The failure of the Government to introduce fee control mechanisms as part of its national childcare scheme was a fundamental policy flaw. Without fee controls, there is no guarantee that increasing public investment will translate into a fee reduction for parents.

Many families are under huge financial pressure with the rising cost of living and they cannot afford to pay these childcare costs. This means that many people cannot take up employment. Many mothers are telling me that they cannot go back to work after their maternity leave because they cannot afford the childcare or they cannot find a childcare provider to look after their child. They are, therefore, extending their maternity leave by taking unpaid leave. Some of them choose not to go back to work at all especially, as Deputy Funchion said, when a second child is born.

I again commend my colleague on bringing forward this motion and I urge Members to support it.

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