Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Labour Party Senators for tabling the motion, which Sinn Féin will support. We see childcare as a public service for children and parents. When it works a State childcare system can be a huge employer and help with the mental health development and health development of our smallest children and young people. It can facilitate parents, especially women, to access the workforce and contribute to a vibrant healthier society and vibrant economy. This is a far cry from the system we have at present which benefits neither childcare professionals nor parents. The depth of the problem we have allowed to develop means the issues facing the sector are, in our view, threefold. These are the fees paid by parents, the pay and conditions of childcare workers and sustainability. Any plan that hopes to address the childcare situation and crisis in the country must consider these issues.

With regard to fees it will come as no great shock to hear that childcare costs are completely out of control. Full-time childcare fees are, on average, €810 per month per child and are even higher in parts of Dublin. Even with spiralling housing costs, the figure is the equivalent of a month's mortgage or rent for many. These unsustainably high childcare costs are putting the parents of young children under huge pressure, particularly at a time when we are in the grip of an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis. Parents need access to affordable high-quality childcare, as is the norm in other European countries. We should expect no less here. The extent to which we are outliers in Europe is only emphasised by the OECD's continued challenging of the State on its delivery of public investment in early years education and childcare.

With regard to fee controls it is clear the failure of the Houses of the Oireachtas and the Government to take real action to address affordability and introduce fee controls as part of the national childcare scheme was a fundamental flaw. Without fee controls there is no guarantee that any increased investment in the sector would, in fact, translate into reduced fees for parents. Increased subsidies can simply be swallowed up by services that are under pressure and fees will continue to rise. With regard to investment, for our part, Sinn Féin has long proposed a system that would offer childcare providers the option of entering a scheme where the State would provide additional funding to cover some of the additional costs covered by parents. This would include costs such as wages and overheads. In return, providers would reduce their fees for parents by two thirds.

With regard to workers' conditions, I am acutely aware of the wider circumstances that mean highly-skilled professionals childcare providers are struggling financially to remain in jobs they truly love. Service providers are under enormous financial pressure to remain viable. Any proposal to address childcare services must not only cut fees for parents but ensure providers receive crucial funding. We debated the Finance Bill today. In our alternative budget we proposed an increase of annual investment by €270 million. Furthermore, we need to build a policy mechanism to review the fee structures and the potential impact of inflation on an annual basis.

There should be a decent payscale and fairer pay for a highly educated work force, many of whom are on very low wages and poor conditions. We know that workers in the sector fought long and hard to secure minimum rates of pay and a career structure with job titles and a pathway and framework for professional pay and conditions. This progress must continue. The Government must provide the financial and legislative framework to support this. For too long we have facilitated a market-driven model at the expense of ordinary workers. This cannot continue and the State must ensure that childcare is accessible, affordable and of high quality. Sinn Féin supports the motion as a very important step in the process. I welcome those in the Gallery.