Katherine Zappone (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for attending at short notice. It is important that this kind of debate happen in the Seanad. I thank my colleague, Senator van Turnhout, for requesting it. There is much expertise in the House, as the Minister will have already noted.

I welcome the Minister's commitments and action points. Senator O'Brien indicated the great language in the Minister's speech and the commitment of the Taoiseach. There has been a breach of trust. Wonderful words in this regard have been crafted by my colleague and friend, Dr. Noreen Hayes, a leading human rights advocate and academic in the field. Much needs to happen to ensure there will not be another breach of trust, particularly in terms of our lawmaking. Others have mentioned that we need to have legislation in place as soon as possible so parents can have the confidence again to entrust the care of their children to others.

The Minister has started a national debate on early years education and care. We will have the strategy published and we will return to many of these issues when that is done. Irrespective of the time that will have elapsed in that regard, we will look forward to hearing the progress made in some of the action points the Minister has outlined. I am certain that, with her leadership, it will happen.

What is the nature of the inspections? What do the inspections of the diversity of early child hood care providers cover? As with other Senators, I was struck by the incredible contrast between the gorgeous buildings and the internal physical environments, and the appalling lack of standards in care and education. What do we inspect?

The Minister outlined the guidelines that were developed in terms of Aistear, the early child hood curriculum framework, and Síolta, which pertains to quality care and standards. As far as I am aware, while there is a requirement to inspect according to both of these frameworks, the inspectors have not been trained on them. What is inspected or enforced determines to a large degree what is done what should be done.

The Minister indicated that new national preschool standards are about to be rolled out. What is the relationship between these and the standards in Aistear and Síolta? We need to ensure the standards in the other two frameworks are being implemented at least at the same time as the ones that are being developed.

My second area of questioning concerns where the Government should focus the next tranche of investment in this developing sector. It is imperative that the Government get it right. The Minister has outlined a major policy shift from direct cash payments to development of the sector. Let us say this is the Minister's pre-budget speech. One aspect has been outlined already. As others have said, we need a workforce that is fit for purpose. Are we satisfied that our current training system provides this? Professionals need strong qualifications not unlike those of primary school teachers. Child care is and should be a profession. The majority of those teaching in primary schools today have benefited from a State-funded B.Ed. As with Senator Mooney, I ask why this should not also be the case for those working in the early years education and care sector. Particularly for mature and part-time students, can the State justify the investment in and training of primary school educators who educate children of four years of age and not make a similar investment in the training of those involved in early years education?