Michelle Mulherin (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the Chamber and thank her for being here today to address this issue. First, I commend her for the passion and commitment that she has demonstrated for early years education and child care in this country, which has been on the back foot for many years. The Minister secured a 35% increase in this year's budget, on the back of a 35% increase in 2016. I welcome the extension of the free pre-school programme from one to two years and the commencement of the affordable child care scheme which will kick in this September. The Government is urging parents who were pushed out of the labour market because they could not afford child care to revisit their decision to stay at home to mind their children and to see if they can now re-enter the workforce. There is a whole suite of measures to which the Minister will refer, I am sure, including additional funding for the child care subvention scheme. The Minister also provided funding to address short-term issues that arose such as the removal of unqualified CE scheme workers from the child care provider ratios and for non-contact hours. I highlight all of these measures because I recognise the serious inroads that the Minister is making. However, issues remain to be addressed, as I am sure the Minister is very aware.

The fact that the early years education and child care sector is undervalued is not new. This has been the case for many years and Ireland is really trailing behind. It is fair to say that it is no coincidence that this is an area that has been and continues to be dominated by women. There is a direct correlation between that and the fact that the work is undervalued. Notwithstanding the fact that most of those working in the sector have been undervalued for many years, it is the case that the sector has become increasingly more regulated in terms of buildings and physical infrastructure and the requirements placed on service providers by the State, particularly with regard to education.When children go to child care, it should not just be about childminding - they should also be stimulated and educated. We all recognise that if children can get a good start at a formative stage, it can set them up very well for the future.

As the Minister will be aware, there is a crisis in this area. Regulatory and educational requirements have increased. The service providers and professionals working in this sector are at their wits' end because of pay issues. The highly qualified people who deliver these services want to be able to stay in this sector. We know their hourly rate of pay, based on the average for the entire year, is approximately €10.

SIPTU is running a campaign on this issue. I attended a meeting it organised in Castlebar, County Mayo, last Thursday night. There was palpable frustration among the many workers in attendance about their terms and conditions. I will mention two particular issues they raised. They are paid for just 38 weeks of the year. This means professionals have to sign on or find other work for the summer. That is the position in respect of employees. Service providers do not get paid at all during this period.

I know the Minister has secured some funding to recognise the administrative preparation that is required to deliver child care services. Frustration has been expressed by those who believe this is way too little and argue that they need much more. The suggestion is that all of this leads to unsustainability.

There is a disparity between community service providers and private service providers. Many private service providers are frustrated because when problems are noticed by the State in the community sector, providers in that sector are immediately supported and financed so that those problems can be fixed, but the contrary is the case in the private sector. In my experience over the years, the private service providers are doing their best.

A great deal of frustration was expressed at the meeting in Castlebar about poor communication. I pointed out that there is an early years forum, but people generally-----