David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I support the call for a debate on child care and will gladly second the amendment to the Order of Business if it has not already been seconded. Yesterday, there was a protest on the matter outside Leinster House. A number of issues are at play. Child care provision is a major issue for many families and the lack of State-provided child care services means that a large number of low-paid people are not getting the support they need, presenting a barrier to many women returning to the labour market. According to the report of the Think-tank for Action on Social Change, TASC, that was published on Monday, 30% of a family's income is spent on child care. That is a large amount of disposable income. It is becoming a major issue and is one of the reasons for income and economic inequality in the State, given the fact that we do not invest in public services or child care. It was not that long ago that the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection stated that she would hold off on cutting the income disregard for the one-parent family allowance until there had been proper investment in community child care. The cuts went ahead, but the investment in child care did not.

Many people working in the child care sector are in receipt of low pay. In the Leader's city of Waterford, people who were working full-time at a child care centre for €250 per week were asked to take a 5% pay cut because of cutbacks. This is the reality for many low-paid workers in the sector. They do the courses, many have degrees and they take up jobs to provide a good and necessary service, but they are on low pay. A range of issues need to be considered.