Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Over decades, we have seen neglect of national childcare policies, producing a piecemeal system with the highest proportion of private providers in the OECD and childcare costs continuing to rise. Despite the early childhood care and education, ECCE, scheme and core funding model, parents in Dublin are still paying as much as €1,000 per child per month, if they can find a crèche place. We know providers are closing crèches because many are also struggling and skilled early-years educators are still not being paid enough, despite the welcome changes with the employment regulation order. We are failing parents, staff, providers and, most of all, children by failing to deliver a proper, State-funded, universal childcare scheme.

The Citizens' Assembly on Gender Equality called for Ireland to move to a publicly-funded, accessible and regulated model of affordable early-years childcare over the next decade. We are working on the recommendations of the Citizens' Assembly but we are conscious the clock is ticking and we are one tenth of the way through that decade. The Government must take action now to ensure, by 2030, we move to the model of childcare to which the Citizens' Assembly aspired.

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