Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)

We have no ring-fenced funding for our early years educators and school-age practitioners at a time when the staff turnover rate in some counties is upwards of 50%. We have 50% of early years educators in some counties leaving the sector, yet we have no ring-fenced funding for an additional pay increase next year. They are still waiting on the pay increase that was announced in June. We are almost four months on now. That was only signed last week, and I welcomed it, but that should have and could have been in place on 1 September.

The joint labour committee, JLC, that is used to set wages is not working. Bar this pay increase, which is half decent, the last one was 65 cent. It took 14 months to negotiate, and this is at a time when people are leaving the sector in their droves. Alarm bells should be going off because if we do not have the educators, then we can forget about reducing costs for parents and building capacity. We will have no childcare sector. The idea of throwing this to the JLC once again to see what some of the big providers in the State will agree to in terms of pay for these professionals, whom we absolutely need to retain in the sector, without having anything ring-fenced is really disappointing and will lead to more educators leaving, more rooms being closed and more people on waiting lists for childcare. Based on what was announced yesterday, the situation is going to go from bad to worse.

There are commitments in the programme for Government to review core funding. Millions and millions and of euro are going into core funding. We saw an article last week in The Journal showing some providers that had pulled out of it. Their profits are in the millions of euro. That commitment in the programme for Government to review core funding should be done. The Minister said that year 1 was being evaluated. That is way out of date now; we are into year four. This is taxpayers' money and we need a full review of the core funding - where it is going, who it is being spent on and what it is been spent on - and that should be done immediately. It is incredible that it is not being done. At the same time, we have providers like those that are dealing with amounts in the millions of euro leaving core funding, and parents paying an additional €300 and €400 in their childcare bills. We have smaller providers that are really struggling, and it is parents who pay the price over and over again.

I hosted foster carers and the Irish Foster Care Association in Leinster House last week. It would be remiss of me not to raise this. It is difficult to emphasise the level of disappointment among foster carers. They got an increase for the first time in 15 years in the foster care allowance and they fear they will wait another 15 for the next. Foster carers are looking after the most vulnerable children in this State and they are doing so on behalf of the State. I met foster carers last week that had given 30 and 40 years. Some of them had taken in over 100 children in their time. When they get to the age of 66, though, they have no State pension. When we consider what they have done for the State in terms of their service, the idea that they will get no State pension at 66 is absolutely disgraceful.

See this speech in context