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

I thank everybody for their contributions and those who are supporting the motion. I again acknowledge that there has been work done in this sector. I said that last year at budget time as well. I also welcome aspects of the Minister's speech in relation to access and inclusion model, AIM. If that is to be extended, that would be welcome. It would be fantastic. On the administration that we regularly talk about, it is not that anyone has an issue with the burden of it but that they just need support to be able to hire somebody to deal with the administration.

I am a Member of this House since 2016 and in some way, shape or form, apart from being my party's education spokesperson for a very short time, I have always been in this portfolio, either as a junior spokesperson or, in recent years, as the main spokesperson.

I have done a huge amount of work in this sector. I was on the committee in the previous Dáil. The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte was also a member of the committee. On that committee, I was the rapporteur for a report specifically relating to workers in the early years sector. The committee received unanimous support in the Dáil for a motion it brought forward in respect of the workers.

Something popped up on my Facebook page today from our budget launch in 2017 when I was delighted that something I had sought for the workers was acknowledged in our budget proposals. This is not something that we are just coming to the table with; I have been working on it for years. To answer a specific question on our policy, we launched our comprehensive policy in July 2022. It remains our policy. I do not have a difficulty answering questions of that sort directly. I do not only want to see fees being frozen; I want them to be reduced. Of course we want to see workers in the sector being recognised. We also want specific ring-fencing. I would love to see a wage scale come into the sector. That is something we have allowed for in our budget proposals in recent years.

The issue is not core funding. It is how it is administered for certain providers, namely, small providers who very clearly said last week that one size does not fit all. There are people who are doing fine and others who are doing better, but there are services which are really struggling. They might fall outside the box. They are the sessional services. Many are in rural areas, and we need to look at that. Those are the changes that we want made.

I consistently say, to the point where my colleagues must be sick of it by now, that we have to look at the three things together. We have to look at those who are providing the service who are struggling, who want to stay in the sector and who want to open additional rooms. We have to look at those who work in the sector. As already stated, there are people coming from abroad now to recruit our early years educators. We need to hang on to them and ensure they are valued. Then we have to look at the fees. It is often an obstacle for people returning to work, education or progressing in their jobs. Many of us will understand the constant struggle in trying to organise kids around work commitments. When someone has access to quality, affordable childcare, it is a total game-changer.

I am really glad to see how the debate has changed from when we first started discussing this issue in 2016. People really identify with those three aspects, and they do understand. For a long time, people only associated the issue with fees and parents. Of course it is an issue involving those two things. That is something I have been guilty of too because one often thinks simply of how one is going to get to work when actually we should think of the benefits for children from ECCE in things like school readiness and in the birth-to-three years age group there are the important things like play. There are so many benefits for children to which some speakers referred. It is important to remember that. I am glad people have started to understand the sector a bit better and to understand that the three things are really important: the providers, the workers and the fees.

I know we will not get the Government’s support, but I am glad that we have been able to have this debate. Our alternative budget is being launched this week. It will feature our proposals. Our full policy was launched in July 2022. It seeks to look after those three aspects. We have an opportunity now to ensure that this will be a really good sector. I do not want to see a situation where we cannot get staff because they have all gone away or that we are forcing so many women out of the workforce when we are in here on another day talking about how we need to promote women and ensure they can get back to work or, for example, enter politics. We must look after those three parts.

See this speech in context