Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Sinn Féin for presenting this motion on childcare fees. The motion mentions that the cost of childcare per child ranges from €800 to €1,350 per month. Looking at the headline figure, it is easy to see why there is a problem with the cost when one considers the average income. A number of problems have affected the childcare sector in recent years. In 2019, it was headline news that childcare providers were struggling to get insurance for 2020. It also emerged that those who did succeed in getting quotes were quoted almost double the amount they had been charged the previous year. This was exacerbated by the fact that there were only two insurance companies in the market and one had decided to leave. That left no competition in the market and meant that the remaining company was the only option. If it was unwilling to provide a quote or quoted a vastly increased rate, there were two possible outcomes. One was that some childcare providers had to close. The other was that childcare fees were increased by the provider. This is all particularly relevant because it meant a double whammy for parents; less supply of childcare places meant that the prices went up and the increase in insurance costs also causes prices to go up. This presents two significant issues. First, why are only two insurance companies willing to quote in the market? Is there an issue with claims and the court system that has kept providers away? It remains to be seen if the new personal injury guidelines will help on this.

The second and most recent issue is the way the sector is being funded by the Government. Funding plans have been announced from September. The Federation of Early Childhood Providers has been clear about the funding problems facing the sector under the new plan. The Government funding model will reward large providers with excess funding and leave the small providers balancing on the edge between viability and non-viability. The funding received by the large companies per child is far above what small providers receive. This reminds me of a speech made by Deputy Fitzmaurice on a different issue some months ago when he made the point that Government policies and regulations are far too focused on the big monopolies and the big providers to the detriment of small and medium providers, which are all too often left on the back foot or unable to satisfy onerous qualifying criteria. This funding issue is another example of where the big companies are getting the support and the small companies are facing ruin. The Government may choose to hide behind a headline figure to show that more money than ever is being invested in childcare. That may well be true but it is necessarily about the amount of total funding but about the breakdown of that funding.

It seems from the Government's funding plan that it wants a small number of big operators and it is happy to let the small and medium providers leave the market. We need the small providers in the local villages, however. They are a central part of our communities and provide vital services to support families and allow parents to work. These small providers are being asked to cap their fees but they are not being sufficiently remunerated in return and they are being overwhelmed by paperwork. In other words, Government policy is causing major problems for many of the 2,000 small and medium operators. Government policy can be, and should be changed, because it is obvious that there will be major problems from September if this situation is allowed to develop without the problems being addressed. To quote from a report in the Irish Examinerthis morning, 80% of childcare providers surveyed stated that "despite the Government introducing new sick pay legislation this week, they would be unable to meet any demand for sick pay, while at the same time providing the necessary relief staff to meet required ratios of carers to children." It is just another example of where Government regulations are imposing burden after burden on employers between paperwork, regulations and generally cumbersome systems. Successive Governments have destroyed businesses and disincentivising entrepreneurship. The burdens only further drive up the cost of living which is something this Government seems prepared to do little about.

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