Linda Nelson Murray (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is fantastic to be splitting my time with Senator Ní Chuilinn. I also have a contribution from Senator Lynch, who cannot be here today.

The definition of "childcare" is the care of children, especially by a crèche, nursery, or childminder, while parents are working. I found a lovely quote which says that children are not a distraction from important work; they are the important work. Thank you for allowing us to use our voices today. I always say I am very privileged to stand here and use my voice, but that is especially the case on the important issue of childcare. I am a mam of two girls. I have first-hand experience of what it is like out there trying to source childminding while two parents work. I am blessed that in my own circumstances we have grandparents who can help us out a lot and I have a wonderful husband.

Childcare providers across our country are dealing with massive financial pressure and a bureaucracy of regulations that are impacting the sector dramatically. Independent providers have no entitlement to maternity leave. Their job is not recognised by financial institutions in some instances, which it makes it difficult for them to apply for a loan or mortgage. Many of these providers have degrees in childcare. Some do not and family friends or relatives help out. They are providing one of the most important services in our country.

As a mother, I know how difficult it is to find childcare. In the village where I live, there is no crèche, and the school does not run a breakfast club or after-school care. It is very difficult to find childcare. The town I am from, Navan, has hundreds of people on waiting lists for crèche facilities. These people are trying to get through the huge burden of the cost of living by going out to work, but they cannot find places for their children. One lady I spoke to was on extended leave from work as she simply could not find anybody to look after her newborn. As my colleague has said, it is really hard to get babies looked after. Maybe that particular sector needs to be worked at in terms of wages and costs. That lady had to register her child at a few months old into a preschool in another village. She is also registering the child in the school in the other village, and not in the village she lives in, simply because that school links in with the local crèche facilities. She will have to travel eight miles a day when the child goes to school, which is such a pity. As people will know, it is a pity when a child comes home from their school and they have to play with kids from another school.

A few weeks back for International Women's Day we made statements in the Seanad. I asked a friend of mine who is a GP what she would like to ask for in women's health. The answer was, simply, more childcare. I was expecting a medical answer, but she put it simply that by allowing women to go to work, go out and exercise, go to the gym and meet friends socially, this would really help their mental health. One of the big issues that I imagine will be discussed here today is the core funding model. In return for signing up to this model, which was established three years ago, operators had to commit to a fee freeze. Providers were also required to comply with requirements to meet various staffing levels and regulations that they would say resulted in increased costs and more monitoring of their businesses. There is no doubt there are many positives with this scheme and the Minister is doing an incredible job trying to give more money in this funding model. I believe 90% of providers are signed up to it. These childcare providers are trying to run viable businesses - I know what it is like to run a business – but they have significant State intrusion without the State financial support to back it up. I am business owner, not in the childcare sector but in the play centre and leisure sector, and have first hand experience of the enormous cost of running a business.

I spoke to Rosaleen, a childcare provider, today as I knew we were going to have a great opportunity to speak to the Minister. I will pass on some of the notes I got from the provider. She said staffing is going to be a massive issue and many childcare centres are unable to replace staff who leave for positions with better pay and conditions. The lady I spoke to this morning is losing a good few staff to Aldi and Lidl, which pay more than the €13.65 she offers her staff. This morning she hired her tenth Spanish member of staff because she is finding it harder to get Irish staff. She explained the situation to me. She said one member of staff is needed for three babies. The parents pay €175 per week in fees for a baby. Multiply that by three and we get €525. If we multiply the hourly wage of a staff member by 11 hours per day and five days per week we get €750.75. If we take the core funding for year 3 of €1.86 per hour and add that to the parents’ fees, this particular crèche is left, after all that, with €81 per week to pay for rent, rates, heat, insurance, high chairs, food, etc. Owners are suffering from high levels of stress and burnout. Larger issues like meeting the diverse needs of children with additional needs are creating further challenges such as access to resources and waiting times for assessment.

Strenuous regulation and administration is also placing a massive demand on providers to monitor regulations and are of course costing money. In light of our debate today, I also spoke to Elaine Dunne of the Federation of Early Childhood Providers. She gave excellent insight, as one can imagine, into the issues while also recognising the amount of money that has been given to the sector. She has raised points about core funding and changing the payment of fees structure such that centres historically unable to apply for core funding would be allowed to apply. She and representatives of other centres raised the serious issue of the Pobal portal. First of all, the calculator has gone off the site. I am not sure whether the Minister is aware of that. It was mentioned by Rosaleen as well. There are also numerous system errors that make the system overcomplicated and unworkable. Providers are asking for a complete system overhaul. They have raised the issue of pay for their staff during the summer. What are they to do? It is similar to the bus escorts for special schools who do not get paid during the summer. A suggestion I thought was super was about how the childcare sector could help with the July provision. Apparently many providers have said they could do this and it could really help with the demand for that service. They would get paid to deliver July provision and this would bring down the waiting lists for the service. Many of these centres used to run camps during the summer, which kept people employed, but, as I am sure the Minister is aware, it has become increasingly difficult to run camps in schools in the summer due to insurance issues. The providers cannot get insurance cover for summer camps.

Something else I felt was important when discussing the issues with these providers is they do not have a stakeholder forum anymore and they want to know when that will be implemented.

I will conclude because I want to give my colleague time. I would like us all to remember what the GP said, which is that for women’s health we need to get more childcare, which in turn will help women. I thank the Minister for today. The forward-planning model she mentioned sounds great. I will finish by saying it needs to be great to help sort out the sector.