Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The first year of core funding will be from September of this year. As this is a very significant investment, I ask services to give this a go and to work through this. It will be addressed and refined over the years but I genuinely believe this is the way to go and it will deliver the quality the Deputy spoke of. One of the greatest threats to quality is the staff leaving the sector and they are doing so because they are not sufficiently paid. Everybody recognises that. That is what the centre of core funding is about. Of the allocation, €132 million is dedicated directly to supporting services and paying staff extra, assuming that this ERO that is being negotiated at the moment is agreed. They have negotiated a base rate of €13 per hour, which is a living wage. It is the first time we will have a living wage for childcare professionals. That is what we are trying to achieve here, and it looks like it is about to be delivered. That is something very positive.

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