Lorraine Clifford Lee (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the Seanad and thank her for her comprehensive and informative statement. We in Fianna Fáil support the investment in early education and child care announced in the recent budget. That investment is the first step on the road to allowing families a greater choice and supporting women to remain in the workplace, should they so wish, following the birth of their children. The health and safety of our children should be the most important concern of any Government. To that end, Tusla must be adequately resourced to allow for more inspectors to facilitate the registering of childminders who wish to register in advance of the September 2017 start date. Will the Minister address how the delays in Garda vetting waiting times will be addressed in advance of the start date?

Fianna Fáil has always been the party of education. Early years education is the first rung on that ladder and we must value the sector and those who work in it. I call on the Minister to give a firm commitment that investment in this area will be not only maintained but increased over the lifetime of this Government. The early childhood care and education scheme was introduced by a Fianna Fáil Government and expanded upon by the last Government. The scheme must now be reviewed in light of the new targeted universal scheme the Minister announced in the budget. I have concerns as to how the two schemes will interact. As all parents know, the so-called provision of two free years of preschool is anything but that. In fact, each year consists only of 38 weeks of preschool care, rather than 52 weeks. Moreover, the way the scheme is designed means most children avail of significantly fewer than 76 weeks, with the average being around 60 weeks.

The new universal scheme, I understand, will run until the child becomes eligible for the ECCE scheme. However, because of the three different entry points, many children have to wait for months beyond their third birthday before they become eligible for the ECCE scheme. My own daughter, who was a September baby, will not be able to access the scheme until the January following her third birthday. This causes problems for families who must, in order to secure a place, pay for it from September. Child care providers cannot be expected to hold places open until January or April when the children become eligible. Will the Minister consider changing the entry points and expanding the scheme to provide a full 104 weeks of care? Will she, in the meantime, allow parents to access 76 weeks of care? The lack of full-years payments is seriously affecting the sector. Many child care workers have to sign on during the weeks not covered by the scheme, which leads to low staff morale, puts pressure on staff in the workplace and has the potential to impact on the children in their care.

I call on the Minister to consider providing greater support for providers based in urban centres in order to ensure there is capacity in the system. For example, providers in my own constituency of Dublin Fingal have some of the highest premises costs in the country. It is very difficult for providers to offer a good-quality service at a low cost to parents when they must pay astronomical rents. This impacts on capacity because the main bulk of children are based in urban centres. Notwithstanding these concerns, ECCE is a great scheme and the universality aspect is very much to be welcomed. We must value all our children.They are renting a property and their former family home, which is in deep negative equity, is rented out to support the mortgage on it. If that income is taken into account, it could seriously discriminate against those people the Minister is trying to protect with this scheme. I ask the Minister to ensure it is only earned income and not rental income on a former family home in deep negative equity that is taken into account.

Finally, Fianna Fáil supports an increase in maternity leave beyond the current 26 weeks and the introduction of shared leave between parents. This would support families in the precious early weeks and months and would encourage greater participation by both parents in parenting their child. I urge the Minister to prioritise this in future budgets.