Patricia Stephenson (Social Democrats)

In the most recent general election Fine Gael promised to cap childcare costs at €200 per month per child, and it would do that within 100 days of the new Government. It also promised to create 30,000 new early learning places. It was a commitment made in a manifesto that I am sure was widely read by parents across the country. I can only imagine that now, two weeks after the budget, those parents must be feeling deeply disappointed and let down. Fianna Fáil made similar pledges of a €200 cap and measures to improve price transparency. These were not musings. They were not wishful thinking. They were explicit commitments made to voters. For families really struggling and banking on this reprieve from the huge outgoings they have on top of the already skyrocketing cost of living, this is a major blow. Despite commitments in manifestos, what we have instead are muddled, half-implemented caps, rising costs and many parents feeling shut out of affordable care. The media over the past two weeks have highlighted stories of childcare providers pulling out of schemes, of costs rising despite promises and of growing frustration among families who are worse off than they were this time last year. It is clear the childcare sector as it stands is not fit for purpose, and I have no hopes that the Government’s small interventions will make a massive change to that. Over 50 providers have already pulled out of the schemes. Some of them have now increased their fees by up to €360 per month, according to a recent article in The Journal. In fact, the whole article makes for incredibly grim reading.

Parents are faced with no choice but to pay up or leave their jobs because childcare is simply unaffordable. To put it briefly, it is a complete mess. I said in this Chamber before that we have instances of mothers - I have spoken to them - making decisions about whether to return to work who are forced to stay home to look after their kids. That is complete hypocrisy when we talk about women's empowerment and gender equality. Ireland has some of the highest childcare costs in Europe. The Government has its head in the sand when it comes to a lot of these issues. It is not a new issue either. This comes up time and again. We all hear from, and know, parents with no access to childcare who are facing crippling costs.

I will also touch on the issue of childcare workers. Senator Cosgrove has spoken substantially on this. We have childcare workers in the system who are highly trained, committed and doing an essential job. As we know, early childhood education is crucial and childcare workers are key. They are key in fostering development and in caring for our children, thus facilitating parents' ability to work in addition to that. Their pay, despite all of this, remains low in the context of their skill and the responsibility their roles demand. I acknowledge they recently got a modest pay increase. However, conditions in many facilities are precarious, with low wages, high turnover, long hours and inadequate support. We should be doing everything we can to keep childcare workers in the sector, but that is not what is happening. In fact, the challenges we have with SNA recruitment means we are seeing childcare workers being pulled out of the childcare system.

Meanwhile for parents we have childcare costs, which continue to take up an enormous share of income. For many, the cost of childcare is equivalent to paying rent or servicing part of a mortgage. Parents are often forced to choose between returning to work and staying at home, or between accepting often low-paid part-time work or absorbing unsustainable childcare bills. We need a radical reset of this sector. We need to bring it into the public sector. The Social Democrats believe that is the only sustainable way forward. I have tabled an amendment which calls for a public model of childcare which is universal, publicly funded and properly staffed with decent wages and, critically, is integrated into our education system. I know when the Minister was giving her statement she touched on the moves to integrate childcare into the existing education system. That needs to be prioritised. It is common sense. We need a public model of childcare that guarantees a place for every child, and which caps costs and genuinely treats early years professionals as the skilled educators they are. I stress that while this might sound utopian, it is common sense. It is about equity and economic pragmatism. While we rely on outsourcing this to sometimes incredible private sector providers, we will never meet the needs in the childcare sector, and we will be letting families and children down.