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

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "welcomes that:

— the present Government has implemented the most significant reform agenda to early learning and childcare in the history of the State;

— total Government investment in early learning and childcare has almost doubled since 2020, rising to €1.1 billion this year, well in excess of the First 5 annual State investment target of €970 million by 2028, which was exceeded five years earlier than planned; and

— Core Funding has acted as the lynchpin to achieving the unprecedented simultaneous goals of providing stabilising investment in services, improving the quality-of-care children receive, increasing pay and improving conditions for staff, and halving average early learning and childcare costs for parents, noting in particular that:

— provision for Core Funding has increased from €259 million in Year 1 to €331 million this year;

— fees in partner services have remained frozen, enabling record investment into the National Childcare Scheme (NCS); out of pocket costs for parents have fallen by up to 50 per cent for users of full-time early learning and childcare, and NCS universal subsidies are now worth up to €5,000 per child per year;

— this year a fee cap has been introduced for the first time in new partner services, extending to all partner services next year, creating a maximum price that can be charged for early learning and childcare and bringing fees down yet further; and

— successive employment regulation orders supported by Core Funding have increased pay for, and improved conditions for, early years educators and school-age childcare practitioners for the first time, as well as aided development of career pathways in the sector, in line with Nurturing Skills, the Workforce Plan for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare (2022-2028);

recalling that:

— the estimated number of enrolments in services rose by 8 per cent, from 197,210 to 213,154, between September 2021 and September 2023;

— between Year 1 and Year 2 of Core Funding, annual place hours increased by 7.4 per cent;

— data from Tusla shows a net increase of 129 in the overall number of services in 2023 and a five year low in the number of net Early Learning Care (ELC) services closures -with ELC service closures falling by 18 per cent since the introduction of Core Funding;

— the estimated number of staff in the early learning and childcare workforce rose by 8 per cent, from 34,357 to 37,060, between September 2021 and September 2023; and

— data from the NCS showing that since 2022, there has been a 22 per cent increase in the number of providers offering the Scheme, a 977 increase in the numbers of children benefitting from the Scheme, and a 52 per cent increase in the number of sponsored children, and in 2024 to date, almost 200,000 children have benefited from the NCS;

further welcoming:

— the continued success of the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme, which enjoys uptakes rates in excess of 96 per cent and has removed barriers to accessing pre-school education, with data from a recent review showing that more than 40 per cent of families would not have been able to send their child to pre-school without this programme;

— the growth of the award-winning Access and Inclusion Model (AIM), now supporting more than 7,000 children with a disability each year;

— the roll-out of Equal Start, a new funding model and set of universal and targeted measures to support access to, and participation in, early learning and childcare for children and their families who experience disadvantage;

— the major progress in implementation of the National Action Plan for Childminding (2021-2028), with new regulations commencing on 30th September making it possible for childminders to register with Tusla and participate in the NCS; and

— the combined durations of Maternity, Paternity and Parent's Leave and Benefit, which is now 46 weeks, almost covering the first full year of every child's life;

whilst also noting that:

— the policy document 'Sinn Féin's Childcare Plan' recently announced by that party betrays a distinct lack of vision for the delivery of early learning and childcare as a public good;

— the aforementioned plan makes no mention of a public model for future delivery of early learning and childcare, instead relying on a primarily privatised delivery model, funded largely by the taxpayer;

— successive Sinn Féin budget submissions on early learning and childcare failed to keep pace with the Government's own investment record over the same period;

— the plan fails to acknowledge that it is solely because of the extensive reforms and record investment into early learning and childcare by the current Government that delivery of affordable accessible and quality early learning and childcare is possible, and is happening; and

— the Sinn Féin plan effectively endorses the Government's approach over the last four years, seeks to build on it but offers no ultimate vision of what kind of early years model citizens should expect for their investment; and

welcomes the fact that:

— because of the reforms undertaken by the current Government, a public model for the delivery of early learning and childcare is finally a real possibility, which will bring Ireland into line with other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries, having amongst the best quality services, accessible and affordable to all;

— with the right future investment the State can move towards guaranteeing a place for every child in early learning and care; and

— State investment into early learning and childcare is now amongst the most effective uses of taxpayer money towards a public good, thanks to the Together for Better Funding Model, ensuring that new investment works to increase affordability, increase availability, value professionals and put providers on a sure footing.".

I congratulate Deputy Kerrane and wish her well in her new role.

This motion is a welcome opportunity to discuss the importance of early learning and childcare. I have no doubt that Deputies from all sides of the House will agree on the value of childcare and early learning in the lives of children, their parents and across society more broadly. Over the last four years, I have spoken to many parents who have told me about the central role early years professionals play in their lives and their children’s lives, the deep trust they place in these women and men to take care of their children and the gratitude they have to them for so doing. It is in early years settings where children get their first experience of formal education, carefully guided by the early years professionals who demonstrate such passion and dedication to their work. Affordable, accessible and high-quality childcare is ultimately a marker for the kind of country we want Ireland to be, one that values children, values the people who care for children, supports parents in those early years and allows parents to return to work as they wish to.

Unfortunately, for many years, the Irish State did not understand or provide for early years and childcare as a public good. From being bottom of the European pack, we have had to make huge strides to implement the kind of service that every child in Ireland deserves so they can have what families in many other countries have enjoyed for decades. That is why, under this Government, we have seen the most extensive programme of reform ever undertaken in the area of early learning and childcare. It is under this Government that the State has, for the first time, recognised childcare as a public good, one that demands more investment and involvement by the State and a close working partnership with providers, with new responsibilities on both sides.

While there is still work to do, my record on childcare is clear. Over the last four years, investment in childcare has doubled from €638 million to €1.2 billion, and this is a figure that I intend to grow in this year’s budget. In the last two years, we have cut fees by half on foot of the extra investment I have made in the national childcare scheme. Pay for staff has increased thanks to a first-ever sector pay agreement backed by Government funding. The number of service closures is the lowest it has been for five years while the number of enrolments, place hours and staff have all increased over the last five years. Fundamentally, we have more staff, with better pay, delivering more childcare at lower cost.

I welcome that Sinn Fein’s document recognises this, in particular with regard to core funding. However, its policy betrays a lack of ambition. The reality is that the Sinn Féin plan offers no vision for the delivery of early learning and childcare as a public good. It makes no reference to a public model for the future delivery of early learning and childcare, instead relying on a purely privatised delivery model, funded largely by the taxpayer. Rather than offering a vision of how the State can continue to build on the reforms, investment and direction undertaken in the last four years, it reverts to reliance on the private market. I believe that parents and children in this country deserve better. Only the State can guarantee access to the two years of the ECCE scheme, only the State can bring down costs for parents and only the State can ensure early years professionals pay increases to recognise the incredible work they do. That is what I have worked hard to do over the past few years: to increase the State’s role in the provision of early learning and childcare.

I have also placed on record my view that it cannot be left entirely to the market and that the next steps are for the State to become a direct provider of early learning and childcare in areas of high need and areas where there are not enough spaces right now. Early learning and childcare is not as simple as a catchy headline. The combined challenges of staff pay and conditions, capacity, accessibility and service sustainability have to be addressed and I want to set out the work I have done to address these areas.

At the centre of the reforms I have brought in is core funding. This was introduced in 2021 and, for the first time, brought the State into a formal partnership with childcare providers. It provided a massive injection of funding of €259 million in the first year, €287 million in the second year and €331 million this year, and this is new funding that goes directly to services. As services come into contracts with the State, this funding has provided the bedrock for the introduction of a new fee management system – the fee freezes Deputy Donnelly has called for – and this has stabilised fees during a cost of living crisis. It introduced a requirement for services to offer the NCS subsidy to all eligible families, which has led to a 22% increase in the number of services offering the NCS. It supported the introduction of two employment regulation orders for the early years sector in September 2022 and June 2024, providing, for the first time, sector-wide minimum hourly rates of pay for early years educators. It introduced targeted measures for the smallest services, which I know are valued by many parents around the country, including a flat rate of €5,000 for sessional-only services and a minimum base rate allocation of €14,000 for small services.

It is important to say that core funding is working. In the first year, 95% of services signed up to core funding; it was 94% last year and we are currently on track to exceed 90% sign-up this year. It is keeping services going. The number of new service openings is at a five-year high for the year to date and the number of service closures is at a five-year low. Figures are often trotted out about services opening and closing but it is important to restate that point: the number of new service openings is at a five-year high and the number of service closures is at a five-year low.

Core funding, by introducing a freeze on fees, allows the full benefit of the national childcare scheme to be felt. We have grown the universal subsidy from 50 cent per hour in 2022 to €2.14 now. As a result, there has been a 97% increase in the take-up of the NCS. In 2022, 99,000 children got a benefit from the NCS but that has increased to 195,000 this year.

I know that while the cost of childcare is reducing, accessibility remains an issue for many parents around the country. We want to ensure that every child, no matter their background, is able to enjoy the benefits of early learning and childcare. That is why we introduced Equal Start, our DEIS model for early years, to support access to early learning and childcare for children and their families who experience disadvantage.

Yesterday I had the privilege of visiting Corduff Childcare Service in my Dublin West constituency, one of 750 services that will support targeted supports under Equal Start. The manager, Noeleen, told me what Equal Start would mean to her service and her ability to employ additional staff.

This month again through extra investment, this Government expanded the access and inclusion model, AIM, beyond the early childhood care and education, ECCE, programme. Now ECCE-aged children are now eligible for AIM hours outside the ECCE programme hours, both in term and outside of it. We recognise that capacity remains an issue and a struggle for parents in many parts of this country.

We have set up a supply management unit in our Department. It is putting in place a forward planning model which will allow us to identify the number of early learning and childcare places across the country, whether those places are occupied and how that aligns with the number of children in the relevant age cohorts in that particular area. Next year €25 million will be available in capital funding so that services can expand, new services can expand and new services can be set up.

Just this morning, I briefed the Cabinet on my actions to open up the NCS to parents who use childminding services.

All of us in this House share a determination to ensure the State supports every single child during the critical first five years in a way that gives him or her the very best possible start in life. It is the most important investment a State can make. From the unprecedented reforms to childcare in both universal and targeted supports to the expansion of parental choice through support for childminders, the introduction of flexible working for care purposes and the expansion of paid parent's leave from two to nine weeks per parent per year; I believe the work I have done as Minister has moved the dial on our State’s support to our youngest.

Crucially, these changes have set us on a clear path, with a clear vision of accessible, low-cost, high-quality early learning and care as a right and public good. The next steps I believe we need to take are to create a legal guarantee of an ECCE place, to ensure the State takes a role in directly providing early learning and childcare, and to provide for further increases in pay for our early years professionals. All of this must be backed by greater levels of State investment. As leader of the Green Party, I have committed my party to advance these key proposals in the next Dáil. I urge all parties and all Deputies in this House to do likewise.

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