Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Dáil Éireann:

notes that: - childcare fees are unaffordable for many families and this is made worse by the cost-of-living crisis, which has families' finances on the brink as they are hit by a barrage of day-to-day costs;

- these prices mean many parents, especially mothers, feel forced to give up work or cut their hours, and this is exacerbating gender inequality;

- many workers in the childcare sector receive low pay, despite being highly qualified, resulting in them feeling forced out of the industry as it isn't a sustainable career path and, in turn, this means that more providers struggle to keep their doors open, adding to further problems for parents trying to secure a place for their child; and

- following sustained pressure and proposals from Sinn Féin and others, the Government was forced to tackle sustainability for services and reduce fees for parents, however their plans failed to go far enough; and

calls on the Government to:

- cut childcare fees for families by two thirds from 2022 levels, to make them affordable for parents by further increasing public investment; and

- allocate additional funding to provide fair pay for professionals working in the childcare sector.

I am taking just five minutes and then my colleagues will be joining me. I am delighted to get the opportunity to raise this issue on the early years childcare sector. As we know, we are in a cost-of-living crisis. In particular coming into the winter months, many people are going to be facing increased fuel and energy costs. Childcare is a cost that is a burden on families. We also know that it particularly affects women and their ability to participate fully in the workforce or return to work or education. We also know that any reports that are done on poverty and child poverty point to access to affordable childcare as one of the key factors in coming out of poverty. The level of fees people pay are very important. In advance of the budget we want to highlight the issue and call on the Minister and the Government to seriously address the fees issue. We are asking tonight for the support of all Deputies, including Government Deputies, for the motion.

I also want to speak about some of the other issues in relation to this sector. Fees for childcare could be anywhere in the region of €800 to €1,300 per child per month, which is colossal. There are also two other very important parts to this sector. The first is that those who work in the sector are very well qualified, often to degree level, yet as we know the wages do not often reflect the very valuable work they do. In fairness, I acknowledge that there have been some moves and I believe pay talks are currently ongoing. I hope they will be successful. It is important to highlight the issue.

Something that was brought to my attention today is that a group is advertising for people to work in childcare abroad. A group from Spain is coming over on 10 October. We are training people here to a high level and yet there is a possibility of them leaving to go to another sector for better pay and conditions. We are at a crucial moment in this sector because right now we have the providers and the workers unlike in some other sectors where funding is available but perhaps staffing is an issue. I note the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, is in the Chamber as well. The disability sector, for example, is crying out for staff. We do not want the same thing to happen in the early years childcare setting. We have the staff here now so it is important that we look at the workers, wage increases and at the providers.

We have had this debate on numerous occasions in this Chamber and in other forums as well. I acknowledge that some people are doing okay in terms of the core funding. In fairness, I said it around the time of the budget last year; that there were some positive moves. However, a cohort of providers are struggling. We see that with some of the smaller providers and the more sessional services that perhaps offer the early childhood care and education, ECCE, scheme only, especially in rural areas, and which are struggling with the administrative burden. That is something we have spoken about previously. Nobody has an issue with regulation, paperwork and with the administration that obviously needs to be done, but there has not been a huge amount of additional financial support to help providers in that situation. Many providers make the point that one size does not fit all. That is a fair statement to make for some of them. We need to look at that.

I have always been an advocate for examining the three sectors together: the issues that affect providers, the issues that affect workers in the sector, and, of course, the fees, which is the primary focus of the motion because paying fees is becoming very difficult for people.

We are constantly hearing stories from people who have put off having a second child or are planning for a child to be in school before having a second, and other issues I want to briefly touch on. On the availability of places, we have reports from people saying that they feel that as soon as they find out they are pregnant, they have to start planning for a place for the early years. The three issues I mentioned are very much interlinked and connected. If we address the staffing issues and issues affecting providers, that will help in the accessibility to places. The primary focus of the motion is childcare fees.

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