Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

114. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth his plans to improve the pay, benefits and conditions for professionals working in the childcare sector given that many of these employees are earning below the living wage; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5559/22]

Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

What are the Minister's plans to improve the pay, benefits and conditions for professional workers in the childcare sector, given that many of these employees are earning below the minimum wage?

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I firmly believe, like the Deputy, that the rate of pay in the sector should reflect the value of the work that early-years educators and school-age childcare practitioners do for children, for families, for society and the economy.

The most recent available data, from the annual early years sector profile survey, indicates that the average hourly wage in the sector in 2021 was €12.60, which is below the living wage, with many staff working part time or on temporary contracts. This is not sustainable and is not acceptable. I am very conscious of the need for significant improvement in both pay and conditions across the sector.

As the Deputy will be aware, the State is not the employer, and my Department does not set wage levels or determine working conditions for staff in the sector. I am, however, doing all I can to address the issue. In December 2020, I set up a process to examine how we could regulate pay and conditions in the sector. This process culminated in the establishment of a joint labour committee, which began meeting in December 2021 and which, hopefully, will result in an employment regulation order. With that order, supported by the new core funding stream I announced in budget 2022, there is now a real prospect of improvement in pay rates through the joint labour committee. The scale of allocation under the new core funding is significant. It is €69 million in 2022, equivalent to more than €207 million in a full year, and it will enable employers to meet the new pay scales coming from an employment regulation order.

In December 2021, I published Nurturing Skills: The Workforce Plan for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare, which includes commitments to deliver career pathways, promote careers in the sector, and strengthen supports for continuing professional development. The Government and myself are fully committed to ensuring that childcare professionals are properly paid. We have created the mechanism to deliver that through the joint labour committee. We have also delivered the funding to deliver it through the €69 million provided for in this year's budget.

Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his response. He will be aware that more than 30,000 people are employed in the childcare sector, most of whom are female. The minimum qualification they hold at the moment is FETAC level 5. Ireland has some of the most highly-rated qualified professionals who are paid some of the lowest wages in any sector, some below the living wage.

The types of people who go into childcare are fantastic, with graduates moving into the sector at the moment. While the Minister might say that his Department may not have responsibility for certain issues, we just need a commitment from him that he will help to implement new pay scales, develop the profession, and make it more feasible for people to get into the profession.

I ask for a commitment from the Minister to implement better pay scales, to help develop the profession and to make it more feasible for people to join the profession. I firmly believe that we are not paying the proper money. I have met many parents and the most important thing for them is that their child is safe and properly looked after. For me, childcare is a vocation for the people who work in the sector. They need to be looked after better.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Deputy has my commitment to deliver on a better pay scale. I think I have demonstrated that by the €67 million that we are providing specifically for that in this year's budget. In a full year that will grow to €207 million. That is a firm commitment. The Deputy also has my commitment to develop the profession. That is demonstrated through the workforce development plan that I published in December and that my Department will be working to implement. We are not just talking about policies any more. The Government has put a very substantial amount of money on the table to help facilitate that joint labour committee process. I do not set the pay rates. We have to let that process of negotiation work between the employers and employees. We facilitated the start of that process and we gave a very clear indication of the Government's intention to support it and, most important, to support the increased levels of wages by specifically allocating money to help employers pay better wages.

Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

My biggest concern is that there is no job security. There is no professional progression. The workers are being paid the minimum wage and many of them are being paid below the living wage. As I said, most of these families entrust their children to the childcare workers. The childcare sector has been underfunded for many years and as a result, Ireland is ranked as the lowest country in the EU for investment in this vital area. The Government needs to invest in the area. We need to get the right people looking after our children. It is very important that we do this right.

An expert group was set up back in 2019. I ask the Minister provide me with an update on what is happening with that group. It was supposed to examine the issue of funding and the Minister mentioned a figure in relation to that. We need to get the right people into the childcare profession. My biggest fear, with the current shortage in staff, is that these people may be persuaded to go elsewhere. We need proper professionals in the sector.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. The expert group reported in December. We are now implementing its findings. The first part of that is the substantial additional allocation of funding this year of €69 million. That is the first step towards that, but there are other elements in terms of introducing a DEIS-type model for childcare and broadening out the national childcare scheme, NCS. We took a small step in that in this year's budget. In next year's budget, budget 2023, we will seek to invest considerably more in the NCS, which will also reduce costs for parents.

The Deputy rightly put the focus on childcare professionals, and there is a lot to be done in that regard. However, we also need to reduce costs for parents. I think everybody agrees on that point. Getting back to the issue of providers, the Deputy is right that we have not supported childcare professionals enough in the past. However, we have the workforce development plan and we have funding to support improved rates of pay through the JLC. Childcare providers will also benefit from the new sick pay scheme introduced by the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. Therefore, very significant advances to support childcare professionals are being made.