Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend Deputy Kerrane on bringing forward this motion and on the work she has done on the policy and commend her predecessor, the former Deputy Kathleen Funchion, on all the work she did in this area as well.

Childcare needs to be affordable, accessible and reliable but it is not any of those things at the moment. An average cost of €800 per month is not affordable. Many parents pay a great deal more than €800. That is not sustainable and many are forced to reduce their work or leave work, particularly women. It is affecting them more than anyone.

I am contacted on a regular basis by parents whose maternity leave is coming to an end and they are panicking because they need to go back to work but cannot find a place to put their child. Most facilities do not accept children under the age of one. Many do not even accept children up to the age of two. They are forced to take unpaid leave they can ill afford. Often they have to give up their job because they cannot get someone to mind their child. We need to invest in community childcare in particular and provide a lot more places.

Recruitment and retention in childcare facilities are ongoing problems. We have professional childcare workers who are essential in shaping children's futures and childcare needs to be recognised as an essential service. The workers need to be paid properly. They are leaving that work not because they want to but because they have no choice because of cost-of-living pressures and are going into other jobs like SNAs in schools because they cannot stay in the job they want to do. According to the latest OECD report, Ireland ranks among the lowest in government funding for early years at only 0.1% of GDP compared with 1.5% in many other countries.

A Sinn Féin Government would make childcare more affordable and would increase the national childcare scheme subsidy. We are aiming for €10 per day similar to models in many other Scandinavian countries and parts of Canada. We propose raising early years educators' pay by €1.50 initially, with annual increases designed to retain staff. We need to plan and speed up the process for childminders, offer subsidies and make use of vacant buildings for childcare. Other things that need to be addressed are the bureaucracy and paperwork childcare providers are expected to deal with. It is ridiculous, very demanding of their time and unfair.

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