Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I join in welcoming the Minister, Deputy Katherine Zappone, and hope we will see her again as there are issues we might want to discuss about child poverty, child protection, parental leave, the provision of mental health supports for young people and youth services which are beyond youth activation and employment services in their more holistic sense. I hope the Minister will be able to report to us on how we can ensure children will be reflected in equality proofing, not only in her Department but in others, for example, in the work of the Department of Social Protection and the area education where there are worrying signals that the children of bankers might have access to00 a special school, while other children struggle to access appropriate education services. I am sure the Minister's will be a voice for equality for children in dealing with other Departments.

In the limited time available to me I will focus on the single affordable child care scheme. It is a milestone acknowledgement of the cost of child care in society. Child care services are a piece of infrastructure that has been missing for many years in Irish society. The scheme truly recognises the opportunities early years education provide for parents and children. It is most welcome. I also welcome some of the detail provided on the scheme. I will not go into it now, but thought has been put into ensuring it addresses and supports not only those returning to work but all parents. It is welcome that it links in from the age of six months when the period of maternity leave ends. I particularly welcome and have strongly endorsed the fact that it is a publicly subsidised rather than a tax credit model. One of the great strengths of the publicly subsidised model is that it allows the State, as a major stakeholder, to press for availability, affordability and quality.

I am concerned about some of the language used which is creeping in such as "shopping around" in the hope prices will happen to stay down. There is a profit dynamic at work. It is very important, therefore, that we look at capping. I strongly urge the Minister, prior to September 2017, to consider introducing an appropriate capping mechanism that will support quality, proper pay, progression and decent equipment and recognise the real cost of child care as found by the Department and Early Childhood Ireland. There should be capping in some form in order that there will be the capacity in the future to ensure we will be able to manage costs and, if there are major market players, that the profit component will not become unwieldy. Capping is particularly important in schemes for those who most need predictable child care costs in the long term such as lone parents.

We have spoken about pay and progression and the importance of securing year round contracts. It is welcome that the Minister has addressed these issues. In this regard, particular supports may be needed for community and voluntary schemes. It is important, when we speak about getting the business model right, that we also get the service model right. Ultimately, it is not just a new sector of the market, it is also a new service. Thus far the Minister has shown courage to put forward this model. I ask her to continue with this ambition to ensure we keep a public service, public ownership and accountability and a capping mechanism.

I want to address some of the concerns we have heard in recent days. It is very important that we say that for 60 years we have found things on which to spend money instead of child care services. We have heard a plethora of new suggestions of things on which we might spend money instead of child care services, but we need to spend money on them. This is absolutely appropriate. Any new suggestion should be about affordable child care. We have heard creative proposals about a tax credit. I ask that we also examine the contributory model. If we change the PRSI system, it will reward the grandmothers of Ireland because they will receive a pension that will reflect the years they put into child care. This is a foundation for children and families on which many other supports and future investment will sit.