Sharon Keogan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I also want to be associated with the sympathies to the family of Brendan Daly. The way Senator Dooley spoke about him here this morning was lovely. I thank the Senator for that and for sharing a little bit of Brendan Daly with those of us who may not have known him here this morning.

I propose an amendment to the Order of Business that No. 13 on the Order Paper be taken before No. 1. This morning, I raise the findings and recommendations of a document from the Federation of Early Childhood Providers - voices from the front line, service providers identifying key challenges and opportunities for Ireland's early learning sector. One of the major points made in this document was discovered in its analysis of many mid-sized services that are owned and managed by single owner-managers, one of the most popular models of early years services throughout Ireland.

Over the past weeks, many of us would have attended some of the presentations the organisation has held in the audiovisual room. In many of these cases, the apparent viability of the service is being achieved artificially with the owners and managers reducing their salaries where necessary to support increases in operational costs. As a result, while the term "profitability" is often described as referring to the bottom line, in annual finances the profit being generated within many of these facilities excludes the salary of the owner or the mangers. As a result, while the financial accounts of the service may indicate that the service is viable based on annual accounts and returns, the model is completely unsustainable and, in reality, is financial unviable.In other social and business sectors, this issue would not be a concern of the State. It would be for the owner or manager to require changes to a business in terms of its operational income, fees, number of clients and costs, primarily wages, in order to address viability. However, that is not possible in this sector. Early years providers' fees are regulated in the context of core funding and their client numbers are limited on the basis of the child-to-staff ratios laid down in the Child Care Act and the regulations. Salaries are controlled by means of the recent employment regulation order, ERO, and represent, on average, 75% to 90% of total operational costs. As a result, the usual release mechanisms used by businesses to adapt their operation to achieve viability have been removed. The report concludes by saying that if this is not addressed, we will see the closure of many childcare providers over the next 18 months, as well as the likely adoption of practices by other business models that are contrary to the provisions of the Child Care Act and the regulations.

We do not normally thank the members of the back-room team of this House. Yesterday, however, I witnessed something that I was so glad to see. Mr. Alan Ruane, the Head Usher, all the tour guides in this House, deserve a round of applause and many thanks. There was a little child called Aaron O'Shea who was in here yesterday with this parents, Fidelma and Martin. I watched the little clip of him in the Dáil yesterday. The whole Dáil stood still for two or three minutes while he enjoyed his moment with the family. It was a lovely experience. I thank the tour guides and Mr. Ruane and his team for making those wishes possible for the most vulnerable children that we have in our community. I want to let people know that this House is the people's House after all. I thought that was a lovely moment yesterday. We should do more of that.