Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Brennan for raising this issue. There was what was perceived to be a big breakthrough two or three years ago when the then Government allocated substantial funding to enable the first-ever agreement between unions and employers in respect of childcare and a JLC was established. I take Deputy Brennan's overall point. Compared with primary education we are still not anywhere close in terms of comparable pay grades or career pathways in early education. This is not something that can happen overnight but we need to have a fundamental look at it. People are studying and it is a very important area. The child is key in this and any experience for a child in any setting must be developmental and not only involve childminding. We have a distance to go on this. Although real progress was made in the past three years on the pay side, the gaps are still there. There is also the issue of places and freezing fees.

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