Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, I welcome the opportunity to close the debate on this motion. This is a sector I have a huge interest in. I have been a volunteer at a direct level with community childcare for some 20 years now, as Deputy Funchion would know. It is a sector I truly value, as we all do.

I commend the Minister on the work he has been doing since his appointment as Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. I thank Deputy Funchion for tabling the motion. There is a constructive working relationship between the main Opposition spokespersons and the Minister on this matter. The Government accepts that there are long-standing challenges in the early learning and childcare sector. The cost of early learning and childcare remains high for some parents. There is evidence of barriers to accessing early learning and childcare for some cohorts of children. The level of pay and working conditions in the sector does not reflect the value of the work that early years educators and school-age childcare practitioners do for children, families, society and the economy. One consequence of this, namely, high staff turnover, negatively impacts on children. The level of State investment, although increasing at an unprecedented rate, remains low by international standards.

We do believe, however, that the commitments we have made in the programme for Government and the progress we have made on those commitments, backed by our promise to increase State spending on early learning and childcare to at least €1 billion by 2028, are the best ways to bring real and lasting development and reform to the benefit of children and families, the early learning and childcare workforce and providers, and the State.

Recent achievements of this Government include the substantial State supports, totalling in excess of €1 billion, that have been provided to the early learning and childcare sector throughout the pandemic that enabled services to operate safely and ensured that increased costs associated with public health requirements and lower demand were not passed on to parents. As a direct consequence of these supports, fees charged have not increased for most families since the onset of Covid-19 and the number of service closures throughout the pandemic was lower than in previous years. A national childcare scheme was introduced and rolled out to provide subsidies to more than 80,000 children and reduce fees to families. Findings from a recent review of the scheme revealed that 38% of families reported that half or more of the early learning and childcare costs were covered by the scheme. Some 56% reported that the scheme meant they had more money to spend, with 11% of respondents reporting that they had much more money to spend. Some 26% reported that they were using more early learning and childcare. Some 28% reported that they were working more, with 8% reporting that they would not be in work without the scheme.

The national action plan for childminding has been published and initially implemented. It sets out a phased approach to bringing childminders within the scope of State-funded supports and regulation over the period 2021 to 2028, with an extension of regulation to childminders expected to happen within the first two to three years of the national action plan. That will allow families who use childminders to access subsidies under the national childcare scheme.

The Partnership for the Public Good: A New Funding Model for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare report has been published. It makes 25 recommendations for a new funding model, all of which were adopted by Government, with funding secured in budget 2022 to commence implementation to include the introduction of a new core funding scheme.

A joint labour committee has been established in the early learning and childcare sector to draw up an employment regulation order, which will determine minium rates of pay for early learning and childcare professionals, as well as terms and conditions of employment, with a new core funding scheme intended, among other objectives, to enable employers to meet additional costs that may arise from an employment regulation order, thus preventing an employment regulation order putting upward pressure on fees.

There has also been the publication and initial implementation of Nurturing Skills, the workforce plan for the early learning and care and school-age childcare sector. That plan contains commitments to develop career pathways, promote careers in the sector and support staff recruitment, complementing efforts under way to improve pay and conditions of employment in the sector. The recent publication of an independent review of the operating model for early learning and care and school-age childcare sector recommends the establishment of a dedicated State agency to support delivery of accessible, affordable and high-quality early learning and childcare services for children and their families. The Government has committed to a significant reform agenda.

The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, in his opening statement, described the wider transformative package of measures that is being introduced this year, including a one-off transition fund that will be put in place between May and August 2022 to ensure fee levels do not rise as the Covid-19 supports are unwound in the period running up to the introduction of a new core funding scheme at a cost of up to €6.4 million per month.

There will be an extension of the national childcare service, NCS, universal subsidy to all children under 15, worth up to €1,170 per annum, and benefiting up to 40,000 children. We will end the practice of deducting hours spent in preschool or school from the entitlement to NCS subsidised hours, benefiting an estimated 5,000 children from low-income families, which I am pleased to announce will take effect from 2 May.

A new core funding scheme worth €221 million in a full year was described by the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, in his opening statement. This progress is acknowledged in the OECD country policy review of early childhood education and care in Ireland, which concluded that, "Ireland is currently pursuing a strong policy agenda for Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC), with the adoption of a long-term Whole-of-Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and their Families covering the period 2019 to 2028".

That early learning and childcare are public goods, with benefits across society, became more evident throughout the pandemic. While the Government accepts the challenges and acknowledges that further development and investment is required, the work committed to and progressed by the Government and the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, will deliver much-needed and long-lasting reform to this essential sector.

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