Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I move:

That Dáil Éireann: recognises:

— the challenges that exist in the Early Years Sector, including for parents trying to afford and access childcare places and for educators when it comes to pay and terms and conditions;

— the thousands of children on waiting lists for childcare places;

— the serious deficiencies in capacity in our Childcare Sector;

— the high costs of childcare that continues to exist with some parents paying over €1,000 a month; and

— the Early Years Educators who are underpaid and undervalued by successive Governments;

commends, the forty-three organisations who have come together to form the Together for Public, an alliance for a Public System of Early Childhood Education and Care, including children's rights groups, academics, trade unions, anti-poverty groups, equality and human rights groups, led by the National Women's Council of Ireland;

acknowledges:

— the Programme for Government commitment for the first time to public provision and to capital investment to build or purchase State-owned childcare facilities; and

— the inclusion in the Programme for Government to commit to "undertake a broad consultation and publish a detailed action plan to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early childhood education and care system with State-led facilities adding capacity";

calls on Government to:

— publish the terms of reference for the consultation and detail how the consultation will take place with a timeframe;

— engage with Together for Public, on the terms of reference for the consultation before commencing; and

— detail a timeframe for the action plan.

I am sharing time with colleagues.

I begin by commending the 43 organisations and trade unions, including Women's Aid, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, one-parent organisations SPARK and One Family, Fórsa, SIPTU, the INMO, the INTO and others, who have come together to form the Together for Public alliance. It is led by the National Women's Council of Ireland. I bring this motion forward with its support and the support of many colleagues on the Opposition benches.

This motion identifies key issues in the early years sector and calls on the Minister and the Government to act on the commitments made in the programme for Government. In the Minister's contribution, she will point to all of the positives. I acknowledge the investment in the early years sector, the core funding and the lifeline that has been for some operators. I acknowledge also the national childcare scheme and the access and inclusion model. The Minister's amendment to this motion acknowledges a lot. However, we still have a situation today where parents are struggling to find childcare places and struggling to pay really high childcare fees. That is the reality they face.

This motion focuses on one commitment in the programme for Government which is as follows: "we will undertake a broad consultation and publish a detailed Action Plan to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early childhood education and care system with State-led facilities adding capacity." My asks in this motion are reasonable. What will the consultation look like? What are the terms of reference for it? I ask that it engage with Together for Public, an alliance, before commencing with the consultation and for a timeframe for the action plan. I am not looking for anything other than what has already been committed to.

Of course, I and other colleagues on this side of the House, and indeed the Minister, could add much more to that list such as pay for our early years educators, who are left at the whim of the joint labour committee, JLC, that is not working for them. The 65 cent was the outcome of the last negotiations. That 65 cent is a slap in the face for these educators who are walking away and who we very much need to recruit and retain. How is the Government going to reduce childcare costs to €200 a month while some parents continue to pay well above €1,000 a month? We could ask about the review into core funding and when it will commence.

There are many issues we could add to this motion. However, it is focusing on that sole commitment because I believe we can make progress where we consult and look at a detailed action plan. We can acknowledge the good and we can acknowledge progress. However, that is useless to parents who are contemplating going back to work, or considering if they are able to return to work. It is no good to the thousands of children on waiting lists for childcare places and to the early years educators who are leaving their profession. That is happening. We only have to look at the turnover figures which are as high as 50% or more in some counties in our State. That should be setting off alarm bells within the Government.

In bringing forward this motion I am mindful that there was much talk during the general election. I grant that most of it came from the Leader of Fine Gael. He spoke several times about a public model of childcare and it being a key priority if Fine Gael was returned to Government. I noted just a week ago the Tánaiste, Deputy Simon Harris, posted a video online asking for feedback, asking what we need to do next in terms of access, affordability and supporting staff. This follows a survey he launched to consult with parents and industry stakeholders on their views eight months ago. I am not sure what the Tánaiste does not get. Start the consultation, prepare the terms of reference, engage with the stakeholders and let us get the consultation done and get the action plan before us so that we can deal with the many issues.

I am seeking the Government to move quickly on one commitment in the programme for Government. There are many issues within our early years sector that need to be addressed but we have to look at affordability and accessibility. Far too many parents out there are struggling to find places, struggling to get back to work and when they get a childcare place they are struggling to pay for it.

I hope that in her response the Minister will be able to tell us whether she will be willing to meet with the alliance of 43 strong organisations that have come together and are campaigning for a public model of childcare. That is something we should look at. It should be examined in an Irish context. I believe it can play a major role following consultation. I ask the Minister to consider the motion.

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I commend Teachta Kerrane on bringing forward this motion. I concur with the points she made on the last general election and the spoofing that was done by Fine Gael especially but also by Fianna Fáil on many issues but most particularly in the area of childcare. The Tánaiste, Deputy Simon Harris, in particular spoke a lot about a public model of childcare. That seems to have gone by the wayside. We called that out during the election campaign for the spoofing that it was, and rightly so. That was followed very quickly by similar proposals by the Minister's party, Fianna Fáil, and they too have fallen by the wayside.

The reality is that the only party that brought forward a plan that looked holistically at the issues in childcare was Sinn Féin. We looked at the funding element of it and at reducing the cost for families. We looked at increasing capacity, dealing with pay and terms and conditions of employment, all of those issues. We looked also at child minding as well as childcare services. Our plan was the only one that would comprehensively deal with the issues of childcare. We said it during the course of the election campaign, and I believe we will be proven correct, that what the leader of Fine Gael was saying at the time was not going to come to pass. I do not believe we are any closer to any form of public model of childcare that was spoken about then.

I briefly want to talk about an issue that is relevant to this debate on childcare. We hear a lot from the Government on the need to move to a seven day a week health service, with which I agree. To make that happen will require additional staff. However, when we talk about nurses, healthcare assistants and radiologists, particularly those who are female, childcare is a barrier for them working seven days a week. If we want them to work on Saturdays and Sundays as part of five days over seven, they are going to need childcare. As we know, that is going to be difficult if childcare itself is only available five days a week. There are many issues on which the Government has not joined up the dots. That is one of them. I deal with nurses all the time who tell me that because of hours and overtime childcare is a huge issue for them. If the Minister for Health and the Government are serious about moving the health service to a seven day a week health service, they are going to have to fix the problems in childcare. These problems have to be fixed for all workers, both public and private. Again, I commend Deputy Kerrane on moving this motion.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I commend my colleague, Deputy Claire Kerrane, on the motion this evening and on all the work she has done inasmuch as has been outlined. We were the only party that went to the electorate with a credible, well-thought-out, well-constructed plan to deliver affordable public childcare. At the last election, both of the parties of Government, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael - I am not sure what the opinions of Deputy Lowry and his crew are - could not walk more than 2 m without talking about affordable childcare. However, it turns out that that was just another useless, meaningless soundbite from them because absolutely nothing has been done in this regard. In fact, as I understand it, they want to bring us backwards.

I represent one of the youngest constituencies in the State, so the issue of the shortage of childcare places is felt very acutely by my constituents. It is a very real issue. There is an acute shortage of places for childcare within my constituency. It is forcing parents, although let us be frank, mostly women, to have to curtail their participation in the workforce. What does that mean? It means people will have trouble if trying to get a mortgage, particularly with the current crowd in government who seem intent on pushing up the cost of housing beyond all believable figures. It means that for many families the juggle is not just difficult; it is becoming impossible.

Access to affordable childcare is a game changer. When I was in college, I was very fortunate to be able to access subsidised childcare. It meant making an application to the hardship fund in UCD to get it, but I did that and I accessed affordable childcare. Since I could access affordable childcare my husband was able to work full time and I was able to work part time and I was able to study. If I had not been able to access that affordable childcare, I would not have been able to go to college and would not have had the opportunities and chances I have had since. I look around my constituency and I see women who are being denied those very same opportunities because they cannot access affordable childcare.

There are 43 organisations in the alliance for public childcare. The Minister should meet with them and hear what they have to say and act on their asks.

Johnny Mythen (Wexford, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank an Cathaoirleach Gníomhach, an tAire agus an Teachta Kerrane. Childcare is the most important element of shaping the future of society. It can enable individuals and families to thrive and develop cohesive communities and help to secure vibrant, safe and sociable environments where children can foster and grow. It is not an exaggeration to say that childcare is the foundation nations are built on. Early years educators are the backbone of this key service and a stepping stone in unfolding and developing the future citizens of our Republic. However, early learning educators' pay and conditions are substandard when compared with those in many other European countries. This is why we in Sinn Féin fully support the alliance for public childcare, led by the National Women's Council, in calling on the Government to implement employment regulation orders, publish the details of its action plan, reduce the cost of childcare and make it more affordable for every child and parent no matter their background recognise the value and importance of early educators and acknowledge pay parity in the context of their experience, qualifications and degrees.

This motion has been tabled to highlight the lack of progress on childcare provision, given that the Government, in particular Fine Gael, stated that a public childcare model would be a key priority if it was returned to Government. One hundred days have passed and we are still waiting for the Government to prioritise the public childcare model. We in Sinn Féin are calling on the Minister to work with Together for Public, consult it on the terms of reference and set a timeframe for an action plan. As the quote goes, "To take children seriously is to value them for who they are right now rather than adults-in-the-making."

Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

In advance of the general election, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil were content to trumpet commitments in their manifestos to deliver childcare at a cost of €200 per month to parents. The programme for Government will have disappointed those parents, as will the Minister and her inaction over the first 100 days in the lifetime of this Government, when we have seen no action taken to reduce the cost of early years education. The inadequacy of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governance has had very real consequences for ordinary families left to pay what often amounts to a second mortgage. Parents are forced to choose between working themselves or staying at home. The Government is rowing back on the improvement to workers' conditions.

There seems to be little impetus for action when businesses are impacted by the Government's poor administration. A survey earlier this year found that nine out of 10 businesses reported the childcare crisis had impacted their ability to recruit staff. I commend my party colleague and Sinn Féin's spokesperson on children, Deputy Kerrane, for tabling this motion and Together for Public for pressing the Government to finally take meaningful action. The draft terms of reference of the public consultation need to be published. There needs to be real engagement with Together for Public on those terms of reference. We must see the Minister's timeframe for a detailed action plan to deliver on childcare because families and parents simply cannot afford another Minister who sits on his or her hands and fails to deliver on either cost or capacity.

Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

In my county of Clare there is a high demand for early care and education places. Parents have to put their children on multiple waiting lists and there still may not be a place for them in the end. I know of a couple who have two young children and the best option for them is to have one child in a service in Sixmilebridge, which is approximately 9 km from where they live, the second child attend a service in Caherdavin, which is a further 13.9 km away, and then drive back to work, which is approximately 48.9 km. This must be done twice per day. This not only adds an extra expense onto this family but is also means they spend a lot of time on the road. Adding the expense of fuel to the high cost of childcare exacerbates the issues the family is having.

A second couple were told there would a two year waiting list, if they are lucky. They tried in numerous areas but in the end the mother had to give up her full-time job and take on a part-time evening job, leaving their household financially vulnerable. The early years education sector is predominantly staffed by women, who, because of failings in the current system, are working in conditions where they are overworked, underpaid and burnt out. Rural and disadvantaged urban areas, where there are even fewer incentives to operate, are also underserved by private providers, meaning women from these communities are more likely to be faced with no other option than to stay at home.

This issue was a key priority during the election. Promises were made. Families need us to step up for them and provide what was promised. Can we see engagement with the Together for Public alliance on the terms of reference for the consultation before it commences? Can we have a timeframe for that in order that families can have hope? Finally, I commend Deputy Claire Kerrane for tabling this motion.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Families are absolutely broken and struggling with the cost of childcare. Very often, I am not sure people in this place fully understand the pressure the cost of childcare puts on families. That is if families even can get a place. There are some people for whom money is no issue but they simply cannot find a place because of the underinvestment in childcare. For those for whom money is an object, if one is paying a mortgage or rent and on top of that one has two children in full-time childcare or early years education, that could cost another €1,500 or €2,000, if one can get a place. For an awful lot of families, more than two thirds of their income is gone before they even consider food, bills, clothes or anything else. I do not believe those in the political system properly understand the pressure people are under. Some families have absolutely nothing left.

There are other families where parents, predominantly women, are being kept at home because they cannot find a place or they cannot find a full-time place. We do not have a childcare service in this country. We have a childcare sector. We have fantastic people working in the sector. We have never built a proper childcare service because we have never looked at it, as we should have, as a public good that is in the interests of our people, children and parents and requires proper staffing and support and a national structure. That is why this motion tabled by Deputy Claire Kerrane is so important. We need a public system. We need to be working towards that and we need a roadmap. How did the Government parties, particularly Fine Gael, get away with the promises they made during the last election campaign regarding the occupied territories Bill, the means test for carers and childcare that were simply cast aside and forgotten about as soon they entered into government?

Máire Devine (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The early years education system in our country is broken. There are thousands of children languishing on lists for places that parents can pay up to €1,000 per month to early years educators who themselves are underpaid and undervalued by this and successive Governments. In the past, the subsidies the Government introduced were welcome but turned out to be cumbersome, off-putting and confusing, to say the least. The funds given to the private providers do not reach the early years educators. Parents are paying the equivalent of a mortgage payment each month for services but the actual providers and workers on the ground do not benefit.

These decisions overwhelmingly affect women - women who stay at home and women who staff the early years education sector. Ireland is, again, not prioritising women and not helping and supporting them with their children. The low pay for educators and the withdrawal from a career results in women who are less financially stable and more dependent on their partners' income. In Dublin 8, where a monthly rent for a two-bedroom gaff averages €2,600, how can the Government expect parents to manage? It also affects pensions later in life. I support the affordable €10 per day public childcare model put forward before the November election by Sinn Féin, which the Minister and the Government parties mimicked in their promises but have since drawn back from in their programme for Government. These is no surprise there in an astonishing line of broken promises. Although there are other less flattering words for it, I will call it a "broken promise". I am committed to delivering for the families of Ireland. Sinn Féin is committed and I insist Government parties now show their commitment as well. Do not languish and leave parents languishing also.

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I move amendment No. 2:

To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:

"welcomes the significant prioritisation by the Government of measures designed to: — reduce out of pocket costs of early learning and childcare for families;

— better align the supply of State-subsidised early learning and childcare with demand; and

— increase the pay and improve the working conditions of early years educators and school-age childcare practitioners, as well as develop career pathways and promote careers in the sector, in line with Nurturing Skills, the Workforce Plan (2021-2028); acknowledges the unprecedented growth in State funding in the sector, which has increased by 142 per cent since 2020 to stand at €1.37 billion this year;

acknowledges and welcomes the major achievements of the funding model that provide a solid foundation from which this Government can build, in particular: — the National Childcare Scheme (NCS), which is providing subsidies - universal, income-assessed and sponsored - to record numbers of children this year, with an allocation of €530 million in 2025;

— the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme, which enjoys uptake rates in excess of 96 per cent and has removed barriers to accessing pre-school education, with data from a recent review showing that more than 40 per cent of families would not have been able to send their child to pre-school without this programme;

— the award-winning Access and Inclusion Model (AIM), that is supporting more than 9,000 children with a disability to access the ECCE programme this year, with AIM now expanded beyond the ECCE programme, where ECCE children are now benefitting from AIM support outside the ECCE programme hours, both in term and out;

— Equal Start, the funding model and set of universal and targeted measures to support access to, and participation in, early learning and childcare for children and their families who experience disadvantage, with 770 services designated as priority settings in receipt of targeted supports this year;

— Core Funding, with an allocation of €331 million in the third programme year towards operating costs (pay and non-pay) of providers to support;

— the introduction of a new fee management system, which in years 1 and 2 meant no increase in fees since September 2021 and in year 3 means the continuation of the fee freeze for a majority of providers, as well as a fee increase assessment process and a maximum fee cap;

— the introduction of targeted measures for small services, including a flat rate of €5,000 for services registered on the Tusla Early Years Register as sessional only and a minimum Base Rate allocation of €14,000 for centre-based services; and

— the introduction of two Employment Regulation Orders for the Early Years Services Sector, which came into effect in September 2022 and June 2024 providing minimum hourly rates of pay for early years educators and school-age childcare practitioners, increasing the wages of an estimated 73 per cent and 53 per cent of those working in the sector; acknowledges that the allocation for the fourth year of this scheme, which will exceed €390 million, contingent on updated Employment Regulation Orders, will bring further investment into the sector;

acknowledges and welcomes the major progress in implementation of the National Action Plan for Childminding (2021-2028), with the commencement of the Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) (Childminding Services) Regulations 2024 and relevant sections of the Child Care (Amendment) Act 2024 making it possible for childminders to start applying to Tusla to go through the registration process and once registered by Tusla to apply to take part in the NCS;

further acknowledges and welcomes the latest data from a range of sources that shows capacity in the early learning and childcare sector is increasing in terms of the number of places and hours of provision that services are offering, the number of places opening, the number of staff in the early learning and childcare workforce and the number of parents supported through the various schemes and the numbers of children benefitting, with: — data from the Early Years Sector Profile Survey showing that, between 2021/22 and 2023/24, the estimated number of enrolments in services rose by 19 per cent from 197,185 to 234,597;

— core funding application data showing that between Year 1 (from September 2022-August 2023) and Year 3 (from September 2023-August 2024) of the scheme, annual place hours increased by 15 per cent;

— data from Tusla on service closures and new service registrations showing a net increase of 226 in the overall number of services in 2024 and a six-year low in the number of service closures;

— data from the Early Years Sector Profile Survey showing that, between 2021/22 and 2022/23, the estimated number of staff in the early learning and childcare workforce rose by 8 per cent from 34,357 to 37,060; and

— data from the NCS showing that since May 2022, there has been a 136 per cent increase in the number of providers offering the Scheme and a 330 per cent increase in the numbers of children benefitting from the Scheme; also acknowledges that there continues to be evidence of some families having difficulty finding appropriate places at a cost that is affordable and that despite progress in recent years owing to intervention by the State, the sector remains a low-paid one; and

welcomes: — the commitment by Government to a reduction in fees paid by parents to €200 per month over its lifetime;

— the ringfenced allocation of €45 million to increase the pay of early years educators and school-age childcare practitioners this year through updated Employment Regulation Orders, with a commitment by Government for further progress in this area;

— the transformation of the Supply Management Unit into a Forward Planning and Delivery Unit, with important work underway in that Unit to develop a forward planning model and explore options to introduce public provision to operate alongside private and community providers where there are shortfalls in capacity;

— the commitment to develop an Action Plan to 'build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early education and care system with State-led facilities adding capacity', with the scope of the Action Plan, the design of a comprehensive stakeholder consultation process to underpin it and the principles that should guide the delivery of this work well advanced; and

— while noting that further developments and investment are required, Dáil Éireann recognises that there are many positive and progressive elements to the current early learning and childcare sector and acknowledges the pathway for improving access, affordability and quality is set out in the new Programme for Government.".

I welcome the opportunity to debate this important issue. While there is agreement that further efforts are needed, as demonstrated by the extensive commitments in the new programme for Government, the substantial progress made in recent years in this area has delivered real, substantive and sustained change and that should be recognised.

Backed by record increases in investment over the term of the previous Government, early learning and childcare in Ireland has been transformed. Many more children are participating in early learning and childcare, parents are paying less, and staff have seen increases in pay. The substantial efforts made in 2024 alone are outlined in the recently published First 5 annual implementation report, the annual progress reports on nurturing skills and the national action plan on childminding, which I published earlier today.

I absolutely recognise that we need to go further to support parents, educators, practitioners and providers across the early learning and childcare sector, with the focus always on ensuring positive experiences for children. As committed to in the programme for Government, I will be developing an action plan to set out the important next steps for the next stage of transformation of this essential service that build on the very positive foundations we now have in place.

The pathway to developing this sector was set out in Partnership for the Public Good, the report of the expert group that was agreed by the Government in 2021. The key theme of that report was the need to strengthen State involvement in the sector through greater levels of public management accompanied by greater levels of public funding. Significant reforms have been delivered since then and they provide the solid foundation for the next stage of development by Government.

The core funding scheme was introduced in 2022. Now in its third year, €331 million will be invested this year into the sector through this scheme to deliver improved pay for educators and practitioners, to control parental fees and to support providers. This scheme has been the key to starting to unlock some of the long-standing challenges in the sector.

The joint labour committee process has seen the agreement of two rounds of employment regulation orders establishing new minimum rates of pay for staff at different grades, supported by core funding. This has resulted in pay increases for a large cohort of staff in the sector. I recognise, however, that we need to build on this to ensure that qualified staff are attracted and retained in the sector. To this end, €45 million is being made available this year to support the agreement on a third round of employment regulations orders by the joint labour committee. This funding is contingent on updated orders being in place. It is €45 million for the purpose of pay and it should be used in full for that purpose. I said that mindful of the independence of the joint labour committee and I respect that independence completely.

The access and inclusion model has already been extended to children in the preschool scheme outside of preschool hours, both in term and out of term. This is making an enormous difference to the lives of children with a disability. Further extensions of the access and inclusion model for younger children and schoolgoing children are now being considered.

Equal Start has been introduced to support inclusion of children from disadvantaged backgrounds in early learning and childcare. Services with a priority designation under Equal Start are now in receipt of additional supports. The national childcare scheme has increased subsidy rates paid to parents which, along with fee controls under core funding and other reforms to the scheme, are delivering much greater affordability for parents. Indeed, recent data from the OECD show that low-income households in Ireland are now paying at or below the OECD average for early learning and childcare for the first time but out-of-pocket costs for some parents remain much too high, and I know that.

The expansion of regulations to allow for access to the subsidy scheme by families who use registered childminders was also achieved late last year, fulfilling commitments in the national action plan for childminding, 2021 to 2028. I hope to see childminder registration numbers gather pace in this three-year transition period until September 2027 before registration becomes mandatory. During the transition period, my Department is providing supports at local level through the city and county childcare committees.

In the Partnership for the Public Good report, the expert group report also made a number of recommendations with regard to the role of the State in the sector to enable greater public management. It called for the State to play a larger role in capacity planning and developing the sector to align with need, as well as examining the introduction of public provision to complement private provision. These are areas where some progress has been made but I understand we need to step up these efforts.

The programme for Government builds on the initiatives in recent years since the publication of Partnership for the Public Good and provides the impetus now to go much further and to deliver on that mandate. Last year, a supply management unit was established in the Department. The programme for Government articulates an intention that the unit be resourced and transformed into a forward planning and delivery unit to identify areas of need, forecast demand and deliver public supply within the early learning and childcare sector where required.

This unit is currently developing a forward planning model to assist in identifying where unmet need or demand and areas of low supply exist. This model will be central to the Department's plans to achieve the policy goals set out in the programme for Government to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early learning and childcare system, with State-led facilities adding capacity.

Capital investment is being provided this year for the expansion of provision by existing providers, including investment in the purchase or construction of new buildings by community providers. This investment is integral to ensuring greater availability of places and recognition of the role played by private providers in enhancing the early learning and childcare offering available. The programme for Government also commits for the first time to providing capital investment to build or purchase State-owned facilities, to create additional capacity in areas where unmet need exists.

State ownership of early learning and childcare facilities is a very substantial and significant shift in the policy direction that the Department has pursued heretofore. It offers the potential for much greater scope to influence the nature and volume of provision available and to ensure better alignment with estimated demand, with public provision operating alongside the established private and community elements of the sector.

We will design and develop this work in collaboration with the Department of Education and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage as key partners. School buildings already provide the premises for approximately 15% of early learning and childcare services and the programme for Government points to ways in which these arrangements can be further supported.

The new Planning and Development Act provides a framework for the review and revision of planning guidelines to ensure that new early learning and childcare facilities that are brought on stream align with future needs. Importantly, we are committing to progressively reduce the cost of early learning and childcare to €200 per child over the lifetime of the Government. Officials are examining this ambitious commitment and exploring approaches to most effectively achieve this objective.

We are very much in the active planning stage for what I anticipate will be an exciting number of years in this sector. Core to this planning is engagement with stakeholders across the sector. This will build on the extensive stakeholder engagement activities that have taken place in recent years, and that includes an in-depth meeting with representatives from the Together for Public campaign and attendance at its launch, which has been referred to in the motion. In addition, a number of dates have been offered for a meeting between the National Women’s Council of Ireland and senior officials of the Department.

The programme for Government outlines the intention to undertake a broad consultation ahead of publishing a detailed action plan to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early learning and childcare system with State-led facilities adding capacity. The action plan will take into account the diverse views of stakeholders in this field and connect the wide range of actions and commitments already in place with a broad research and evidence base to describe the additional initiatives required to achieve the ambitions of this programme for Government. The action plan will enhance parental choice through ongoing support for public, private and community provision, as well as childminders. I look forward to updating the Dáil as the action plan is developed.

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I begin tonight by mentioning Mary Prior, a friend and neighbour who passed away recently. Mary's childcare facility was an institution that supported hundreds of children and their parents in the Springfield area of Tallaght down the decades. Comhbhrón to her husband Oliver and their family.

Tonight, we are advocating for parents who are at their wits' end. First, they have to find a childcare place for their child, and then they have to figure out how they are going to afford it. They also have to work out how they are going to get to that childcare place. We are preventing parents from being able to go back to work in too many cases. No parent should have to decide between having a family or staying with their job - not in this day and age.

The voices and needs of early years sector workers have been disregarded by Government, and now it is families who are paying the full price. The level of staff turnover for private early learning and care facilities in the South Dublin County Council area is among the highest in the State. Workers are being forced out of the sector that they have trained and studied hard to enter and love being part of. This Government clearly has no intentions of cutting the cost of childcare, making it affordable for parents and building much-needed capacity to ensure access in the first place, and has no commitment to early years educators. All the talk before the election was just that.

Sinn Féin would not simply reduce the cost of childcare; we will also work to increase capacity in the sector so that parents can not only afford childcare, but can also access childcare.

Ann Graves (Dublin Fingal East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The early years education sector is in crisis. It is not serving the interests of parents, children or providers. It is in serious need of investment and adequate funding. Parents are paying the equivalent of a mortgage for services. In some cases, they cannot access childcare even if they could afford it.

My office in Swords responds every day to people caught up in this crisis. David from Malahide, an early years education provider, says the cost is now unsustainable for families. Jessie from Swords, who has just had a baby, is already stressed about having to quit her job to look after the baby and being unable to meet her mortgage payments next year. Nadia, a parent of a one-year-old child, is deeply concerned and anxious about the alarming lack of childcare services and the fact waiting lists are now extending into 2027. One parent summed up her frustration as follows: "This crisis is placing an unjust strain on parents, especially mothers, who are often forced to either compromise their careers or accept inadequate childcare arrangements."

This crisis is not merely a matter of inconvenience but a significant obstacle to gender equality, economic participation and the overall well-being of our children. Sinn Féin remains committed to a public model of childcare. We would deliver childcare at a cost of €10 a day by giving subsidies to providers to bridge the gap between the actual cost of the care and the €10 cap on fees parents would be charged per child. I was proud to stand with the Alliance for Public Early Childhood Education and Care, which is made up of more than 40 organisations and trade unions and led by the National Women's Council, at its campaign last week demanding that the Government honour its commitments to early education. Parents, children, providers and staff cannot wait any longer. We need immediate Government action on childcare provision. Sinn Féin will continue to campaign for an early years model of childcare that is affordable, high quality, accessible and inclusive. What has happened to the promise by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael during the general election campaign to provide childcare at a cost to parents of €200 per month? Their promise must be honoured.

Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Many families in every part of the country, in rural as well as urban areas, simply cannot find a childcare place. This is a real problem. If they find a place, it is excessively expensive because provision is so scarce. The Government came forward at election time and said it would provide childcare at €200 per month and also do this, that and the other. In line with what a politician famously noted in the past, this seems to be the sort of thing that is said at elections but is not followed through on subsequently. There is a real challenge here for the Minister to make sure the Government follows through on its promises to provide childcare places, make them affordable and ensure that those engaged in early childhood education are properly remunerated for their work and respected for the huge work they do and the foundations they lay for children's futures. To ensure that happens, the Minister must step up to the mark and do what she promised to do. That is really all we are asking.

I compliment Deputy Kerrane on putting forward this motion. However, I am very disappointed with the Minister's amendment, which backtracks even on what is in the programme for Government. We have a real distance to go. There is huge disappointment not just within the sector but among the many thousands of parents across the country who are really frustrated because they cannot get a childcare place or, if they do, find the cost is like paying another mortgage. This is a time in people's lives, with a young family, when they have all kinds of expenses, including a mortgage or high rent, a car if they are living rurally, insurance and all of those costs. They absolutely need Government support at this stage in their lives. It is vital that the Government recognises that providing adequate childcare places and properly looking after those working in early education is an investment that will pay off in the future by ensuring we move forward to a better society.

Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

We all want to see an early years sector that works for society. We want educators to be paid fairly. We want enough capacity to ensure children get places in their local community. We want to see childcare fees that are affordable for families. To do all that, we need the State to take the lead and not just leave it all to private providers.

In my constituency of Dublin Bay North, we have seen a lot of new homes being built, which are mostly filled by young families. There is then a scramble to secure childcare places with local providers. Some providers in my area are charging parents €800 as a deposit for putting their children's names on a list. The Minister will agree that is outrageous.

As we all know, the majority of caring falls to women. Where a parent needs to give up a job to look after a child, it is mostly women who do so. On top of that, the staff in the sector are mostly women. It is no surprise that a sector consisting mostly of women happens to be one in which staff are underpaid.

The programme for Government gives a commitment, for the first time ever, to public provision in this area. It promises to build or purchase State-owned childcare facilities. That is a huge step forward but we need to see the action plan urgently. We need commitments on a timeframe for delivery. The situation cannot be dragged out any longer. An affordable, accessible and high-quality early years sector benefits everybody. Delivering it needs to be a priority for the Government in this term.

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Early years education and the need for movement to a public childcare model were huge issues during the recent general election campaign. The Tánaiste referenced them multiple times as a key priority should Fine Gael be returned to government. More than 100 days after the formation of the Government, we have seen little to no movement on this key priority that was mentioned so many times by the Tánaiste. The programme for Government commits to the publication of an action plan. That is welcome but we need a date for when the plan will be published. Without a date, there is a real concern that, like other election promises by Government parties, this commitment will fall into the ether. A move to a public early years education sector must happen fast.

This is a sector that, as it stands, does not best serve the needs of parents, children, educators or providers. There are two main issues that need to be addressed urgently. The first is the need for more places in early years facilities and the second is the need to improve the pay and conditions of staff. After studying four years for a degree, pay for most workers in the field starts at €13.65 an hour, which amounts to just above the minimum wage. It is no wonder so many are leaving the sector. They handle children in some of their most critical development years but the pay does not reflect the importance of their work. They should be valued more than that. The private profit-driven system does not meet the needs of a changing society.

The other issue, as I mentioned, is the shortage of places. I spoke earlier today to an early years educator in Limerick who told me he has a waiting list of almost 250 children for a community-based early years facility. Parents are paying up to and beyond €1,000 per month for childcare, which is placing a huge financial burden on many families. Many couples are left having to choose between two incomes or one spouse staying at home to care for the children. For may families, one income is not sufficient to support the household and meet the cost of rent or mortgage repayments. It is unacceptable that providers, in turn, face penalties in some circumstances. Flexibility should be afforded.

The Sinn Féin motion is supported by the Together for Public alliance, which calls for a public system of early childhood education and care. We need the terms of reference and a timeframe for the implementation of the action plan promised in the programme for Government. Parents and early years staff cannot wait any longer.

Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion on behalf of the Labour Party. I thank Deputy Kerrane and her Sinn Féin colleagues for bringing it forward. Like many Deputies, I have been contacted by parents struggling to either find or afford a childcare place. I have also spoken to a number of providers in Kildare who are struggling either due to low funding or an inability to get staff. The current system of early years education and care is not working for anyone. It does not work for parents, providers or staff.

Ireland has some of the highest childcare fees in the European Union, with many working families paying a second mortgage in childcare fees. We also have the highest level of private provision of any OECD country. Childcare fees in my county of Kildare far exceed the nationwide average of €790 a month. Parents in Kildare pay an average fee of €850 a month, with the highest fee in the county standing at €1,154. Despite core funding promising to reduce costs, working families continue to see their childcare fees increase. It was a blow to many working families that instead of reducing fees, one of the first actions of the new Government was to approve fee increases of nearly 20% for some childcare providers. The Minister has said that getting to the cap of €200 per month per child is a long journey.

This is simply another row-back by the Government on its election promises and a blow to families who need to know when the long journey of the second mortgage will end.

The Labour Party was the first party to call for childcare fees to be capped at €200, so it is welcome that many other parties followed suit. A commitment contained in the current programme for Government is to reduce fees to €200. Most Scandinavian countries operate this model, with a fee cap and additional reductions based on the number of children and means. It is not a model that fits Ireland exactly but the basic values of equality, affordability and fairness must provide the foundation of Ireland's own public model of childcare. A public model cannot operate on its own; it needs to be backed up by increased family leave entitlements to ensure we address the gender care gap between men and women, promote the involvement of more men in caring duties and support women's labour market participation.

We have to acknowledge that reducing childcare fees will not bring one additional childcare place. We need to address the workforce challenges facing the sector in tandem. Funding streams are now inadequate for many smaller providers to sustain their businesses. The Government needs to put its money where its mouth is and ramp up the investment in the childcare sector. Small to medium sized businesses are struggling to make ends meet. Eleven services in Kildare alone have already closed out of 184. This year, over 30 service providers have withdrawn from core funding. In the previous two years, 140 services withdrew. Clearly, the Government does not have the ambition to match what is required in investing in our early years childcare sector. UNICEF has suggested 1% of GNI, which equates to an investment of €2.7 billion. Any country that is serious about investing in high-quality, affordable early-years education needs to consider a proportion between 1% and 2%. Ireland is way behind, at 0.4%. We have a long way to go.

Staff are leaving in their droves due to low pay, with a survey by SIPTU showing the sector is struggling to retain staff and an average turnover of 25%. The Government recently confirmed an additional €15 million to support providers in meeting the cost of increasing the minimum rates of pay. For 2025, that is €45 million. Despite this, there has been great frustration among unions and educators due to the lack of progress on the new employment regulation order. The sector could be looking at losing €860,000 per week due to continued delays in implementing increased minimum rates of pay. The Minister must confirm what action she is taking to ensure the talks at the joint labour committee do not stall any longer. As the Minister is aware, €207 million in State funding has been paid to the sector since 2022 to support improved pay. However, the Minister has stated EROs do not absorb the available core funding signalled for staff pay and graduate leaders. We need to know what the Department and the Minister will do to address this.

In the Labour Party's vision for a public model, we see educators being brought into line with their colleagues in primary education and integrated fully into the education system. We need to achieve professional wages for our early years educators, with a minimum rate of €15 per hour, and recognise qualifications and experience if we truly want high-quality early years education. The Government will have spent €350,000 on consultancy fees researching a national agency on childcare, but there is nothing to show for this yet.

The Ireland Strategic Investment Fund has invested in an equity firm that made a €10.5 million investment in a private for-profit operator, this being another example of the Government speaking out of both sides of its mouth. How can the Government possibly move towards a public model when it is trying to profit from this crisis? State resources should be invested in building a public model of childcare, not in for-profit providers. I ask the Minister to commit in the House tonight to divesting from this equity firm.

The Labour Party's ambitions for a public model of early education and school-age childcare would guarantee equal access and prioritise the opening of new services where there is a shortage of childcare places. In my area, Kildare, a number of purpose-built premises are lying vacant waiting for the State to roll out a public model. These are the areas that the Government must target first. For many private providers, there are areas that are not profitable to go into, particularly rural towns and villages. This is where the State needs to step in. Doing so would provide an equal start for many young children and reduce the cost burden on ordinary working families. A public learning and childcare system would ensure equality for children, affordability for parents and fairness for professionals. The Government needs to set a date for the introduction of a public system and provide a clear roadmap that has vision and ambition. We need to give certainty to those working in the sector and help struggling families to reduce their childcare costs.

Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank Sinn Féin for tabling this important motion. It is a pity that the Minister is stepping out because I have some important questions for her, but no doubt the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, will be able to take them up.

There is considerable frustration among parents, early years workers and providers because, while this issue got an awful lot of attention in the run-up to the election, it has really fallen off the bandwagon since then. The hope of families, providers and early years workers that they will see genuine and substantive change in the early years space will not now be realised under the current Government. We await to be corrected on that. The reality is that, for far too many families, the shortage of childcare places is a stress. It often starts in the early weeks of pregnancy and goes on well past the child's first birthday.

We have been running surveys in my constituency for the past two years and have noted some very stark results. Some 30% of parents tell us they wait for 18 months or more to access a childcare place. Over 20% of parents tell us they felt forced to leave their jobs. For all the talk of gender equality, it is mothers who bear the brunt of the lack of childcare spaces. While we very much welcome the conversation on reducing costs, that cannot be isolated from the need to expand greatly the number places. Particularly in Dublin's north inner city but also across the wider Dublin Central constituency, the key call from parents and indeed childcare providers and workers is for more spaces. There was a time when EU structural funds were used to build crèches in Dublin 1 and other parts of the country but that does not happen anymore. For years now, we have been calling on the Government to provide direct State investment.

This brings me to my first question, which is on the building blocks scheme. We campaigned for a long time for it to be introduced. To his credit, former Minister Roderic O'Gorman introduced it. In January of this year, a deadline was set for application by early years providers and they were told they would be notified in February. In April, they were told to be ready and that notification was going to come soon. It is now early May but there has still not been a dicky bird from the Department. We understand that Pobal brought in the OPW to assess the applications. The work on those applications has been completed and they are now sitting on the Minister's desk waiting for approval.

The reality with the building blocks scheme is that the money has to be spent by the end of December this year. Think about the logistics of this. It is now the start of May. If the answer were to be given tomorrow, it would take about six weeks or longer for the e-tenders process to be completed. Then we would be waiting another wee while for construction workers to come on site. Most early years providers are being told now by the builders that they try to line up in advance of the e-tenders process that there is not a snowball's hope in hell that the projects will be finished by December. The reason for this is, and the blame lies squarely with, the Department. Therefore, we need to hear very clear answers for the frustrated early years providers who applied for the scheme in the genuine hope they would be able to expand their early years services but who cannot do so because of the lack of action by the Department.

The second key issue I want to raise this evening is governance. Some 99.9% of providers are brilliant and go above and beyond every single day in the work they do, but there are a few that exploit confusion among parents over fees and the freezing of the fee structure. Last August, we had the revelation that Hyde and Seek was one of a number of crèches found to be overcharging. What I want to understand is whether every parent has been fully refunded. There was fighting talk from the Department last August in this regard. What penalties are in place for providers that breach the fee-freeze rule?

Robert O'Donoghue (Dublin Fingal West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I hear every day from women in my constituency in particular that they cannot find childcare. I hear mostly from women about being forced to give up their careers, to defer returning to education and to delay starting and expanding their families. We have moved from the marriage bar of the past to what can only be described as a modern-day family bar where the costs and unavailability of childcare are dictating deeply personal life choices. Some €1.37 billion could be far better used to begin nationalising the wages in the sector and starting the transition to a public system of early education and school-age childcare that is accessible for all.

Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank Deputy Kerrane and her colleagues in Sinn Féin for proposing this motion. We have had many conversations about childcare in recent months since I have been the spokesperson for childcare but, more importantly, since my time as a parent to three young children. I have been really interested in the similarities that face the early years education and childcare sector with the healthcare sector and the transformation we have seen in that sector in recent years. In the last couple of months I have met many key stakeholders in the sector including service providers, workers, parents, unions and associations that represent the sector. The common theme across all these meetings has been a lack of vision for what the future of early years childcare looks like. In summary, with the greatest respect to it, it is only the Government that thinks what is going on in childcare and early years policy is working. Everyone else has identified significant structural issues which face the sector. That is why we fully support the motion this evening and have tabled an amendment to add to it in relation to how we believe we might roadmap the future and the vision for early years education and childcare in Ireland.

The programme for Government was relatively weak in that regard. It hung itself up on the idea of cost but ignored the real issue of recruitment and retention, as well as that of capacity. I acknowledge the Minister of State’s words about the Government’s efforts to acquire public buildings to increase that capacity but it is stopping quite short of developing what should be a public good. The partnership for the public good report acknowledged that childcare and early years is a public good. Access to that or to any public good should not rely on luck. From speaking to many parents and having experienced it myself, I know that often it does come down to luck, that is if a space comes up and if you have been on the waiting list for long enough. Capacity is an issue that continues.

I commend the work of the alliance, which I have met as, I am sure, have others, of the National Women’s Council and the 40 other organisations that are trying to achieve something monumental in the shift in public childcare and early years education. Again, this is something we support but we are really enthusiastic about what a roadmap to that would look like. That is why we tabled our amendment.

We believe it is time for the idea of páistecare. This would be the equivalent to what Sláintecare was for the healthcare system in Ireland many years ago. We hear similar rhetoric and Government policy to the effect that we have record levels of spending in early years and childcare and have reduced capacity issues in some places. We have a real momentum behind the policy but we do not have the vision. What Sláintecare did was provide a vision for the future of healthcare in Ireland. We believe it is time to bring everybody to the table for a special Oireachtas committee on early years education and childcare in order that we could map what that vision looks like, whether it is public or hybrid; whether it is hearing the voices of the workers, service providers, parents and the higher education institutions that are preparing the professionals to go out but that often watch these graduates choose a different career because there is something quite unsustainable about choosing a career of early years education and childcare right now.

I appeal to the Minister of State. I will move my amendment and hopefully it will pass and then we could look at forming that special committee. Over the lifetime of this Government we have an opportunity to progress something that would not only speak to Sinn Féin’s motion and the wider work the alliance seeks to achieve in the public model of childcare and early years education but also would give the Government the opportunity to hear directly in a formal way and bring recommendations to this House as to what that vision would look like. I would appreciate careful consideration being given to our amendment to the motion this evening.

It is right that childcare and equality are part of the same Department because this is an issue of equality. It is not just geographical equality but also what happens to young families, to children and particularly to young mothers when they do not have access to childcare and early years education for their kids. They are locked out of work, education and opportunities to play roles in society that they would like to achieve. I know it is work the Minister of State would like to achieve and Deputy Kerrane also is passionate about this issue. We have the opportunity to do something during the term of this Government but first I would begin by stating there are significant deficits. If we start with that and commit to that roadmap with a special committee for páistecare we have the opportunity to move something very positive this evening.

Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I am delighted to support Sinn Féin’s motion this evening. My constituency is Dublin South Central. Like many here, I have received many emails from parents which outline the prohibitive cost of childcare. I have had emails from people in Ballyfermot, Drimnagh and around Dublin 8 from people who are paying more than €1,000 a month per child. For anyone with more than one child - at one stage I had three children under the age of three - it would cost many thousands. People cannot afford this. It is unsustainable. This is something that everyone has been calling for and we need to move on this.

It is very disheartening to hear that it was promised by the Government before the election and it is not coming to fruition. I echo what my colleague, Deputy Farrelly, said about páistecare. It is a model which is costed. It would put us on an equal footing for children in their very early years of care and education. Coming from an education background, I have seen first-hand those children who do not attend early childhood education and the effect that has when they come into primary and secondary schools. It is time we put early childhood educators and the education they provide on a par with primary and secondary school. It was only decades ago that secondary school became available to everybody. The next level to which we need to move to become a progressive society is having early childhood education as a public service that is available to all and that gives everybody an equal start. I commend the alliance that was outside the Dáil this week. Their work is monumental to what we need to do now.

Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion. My constituency of Dublin Rathdown has the most expensive childcare in the country. I hear from people every week in emails, whether they are people I am in contact with or they contact me, who talk about the twin problems of cost and capacity, that is, the absolute crippling cost to families and the chronic lack of places. Those two inevitabilities end up with people either having to leave the workplace to provide childcare in their own home or a strain on families who are already squeezed by the cost of rent, groceries and electricity. I echo Deputy Farrelly’s comments on equality. Although we have the most expensive childcare in the country in Rathdown that does not mean we have a homogenous group of people who can afford it. We are not all affluent in Dublin Rathdown. Many people are already put to the pin of the collar and this places great additional strain on them.

I also will speak to the gendered aspect of this because as we all know, this crisis disproportionately affects women. They are the majority of low-paid childcare workers and they - we - are often the ones expected to stay at home when childcare is not available or affordable in a family. We know that countries that have proper support for parents have better gender equality, smaller pay gaps and better outcomes for children and their parents. We also know that the solutions are in front of us. This motion calls for timely action on the consultation and action plan in order that we can see the public provision of childcare happen and the realisation of those election promises to provide public affordable childcare. A public system of childcare is what we need. It is done in so many other countries. It guarantees wages for staff, stability and affordability for parents and ensures that child welfare is never in competition with profit margins.

I am happy to endorse the motion and the amendments we have proposed.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Every Deputy who stands up will have a story to tell about his or her own constituency and the absence of effective childcare or aftercare provision, precisely because this insidious issue affects the means by which parents organise their days, get into work and ensure that their children are looked after in a manner that taken for granted in most other jurisdictions. It is difficult to know where to begin when detailing the systematic failures that brought us to this point. We are talking about a sector that is as fundamental to a child's development as primary and secondary education, yet it has been allowed to become almost entirely privatised, where it is even available.

I was asked to visit an after-school facility in my constituency of Dublin Central about two weeks ago. At Mountjoy Square Park, it is an incredible community after-school project that does immense work. I pay tribute to the staff there. The building they are asked to work in is something that will stay with me for a long time. The walls were mouldy and cracked and could not hold furniture. The pathways outside were broken all the way alongside it. The back door was just unusable. Of the children receiving great care there, many were in homeless accommodation on Gardiner Street. Other children had come in through our international protection system. I looked at and touched the walls of that building and I could not for the life of me understand how a State could enable a situation where children would be cared for in an environment such as that, if care even exists.

The stories I hear every day from communities in Drumcondra and Glasnevin show that childcare is not available. In recognition of that fact, we asked Dublin City Council recently to do an audit of buildings that may be available for childcare or after-school provision. We hear so much about dereliction and empty buildings in central Dublin. We never hear anything innovative in terms of how we could reanimate those buildings to create a real sense of public good. There is no public good more important than the allocation of childcare provision. Dublin City Council simply said that was not within its remit.

In the lead-up to the election, the Government promised that childcare fees would be capped at €200 a month. The Government has failed to deliver upon that promise. It is not a promise that I want to play politics with because this issue is fundamental to the basic necessity of parents and guardians the length and breadth of the country. Páistecare is a good, innovative solution that is worth pursuing.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
Link to this: Individually | In context

During the general election, you could not move but for tripping over another promotion of €200-a-month childcare. Every party on the Government side was at it. That is what happens in elections and now, unfortunately, we have been told this promise will fade into dust and there will be no movement on it in the upcoming budget. It is extremely cynical and stressful for parents. We have the worst-funded childcare in the OECD. We also have the worst childcare cost-to-wage ratio in Europe, with workers struggling to put their children in childcare.

Fingal, the area I represent, has the second most expensive childcare, yet what we are seeing is that it is not the cost, but the lack of availability that is the key problem. People are finding out they are pregnant and are almost, in embryo, putting their children on waiting lists for scarce places. Childcare providers have been driven out for various reasons, primarily because the previous Government tried to subsidise a completely private childcare system. It cannot work. You cannot provide childcare at a profit, just like you cannot provide education or healthcare at a profit either. It is not possible. During the election, one childcare provider in Dublin West that now charges €1,560 a month, which is higher than the €1,000 the motion mentions, increased its fees by 20% even though it was getting subsidies from the State. We need a public childcare system, State provision of land when estates are built, and State underwriting of insurance and other costs. All schools could also be part of a childcare system, particularly after-school care, the grounds and so on. Many parents have raised with me that a lot of schools will not even allow private providers to use premises for children to attend after-school. That is something every school should be asked to do straight away. These are State-funded schools.

Ultimately, we need a system that is completely provided by the State just like we have at primary, secondary and third levels. I find it interesting that every party is saying that right now when it was something that was only said by socialists a few short years ago. The difference is it is never going to happen under this Government. It did not happen with the healthcare system and it will not happen with childcare, because it will be the last thing to be done.

Charles Ward (Donegal, 100% Redress Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I support the Sinn Féin motion on childcare. There is a serious crisis of childcare in this country that has been ongoing for years, yet the Government continuously failed to address it. Parents not only struggle to afford childcare, but also to access it. Accessing childcare is an enormous challenge facing many families across the country but particularly in Donegal. A recent survey by Early Childhood Ireland has revealed shocking figures. In Donegal alone, there are 1,345 children under the age of four on childcare waiting lists for only 89 places. That leaves 1,200 children in Donegal who do not have a crèche place. That includes 362 children under the age of one waiting on lists, with just three places available to them; 468 children between the ages of one and two waiting on lists for just seven places available; and 515 children aged between two and three on waiting lists with just 79 places available. It should not be the case that hundreds of families are fighting for a handful of places.

Recruitment and retention of staff continues to be the main issue in Donegal. It makes sense to bring early years and school-age care graduates into the public pay system. I cannot understand why this has not been properly considered and implemented. The Government needs to start taking proactive steps to address the shortage of early years educators, who have been underpaid and undervalued for far too long. We need to start paying and treating our early years educators far better.

We also need to address the extortionate fees parents are expected to pay. It is unacceptable that parents are expected to pay the equivalent of a mortgage each month for childcare. During the election, the Government very loudly promised to reduce childcare fees to €200 per month per child. Five months later, there has not been a peep about this issue. Parents are still paying thousands a month on childcare costs. It is yet another broken election promise.

We know that this is a crisis that particularly affects women. As a result, they are not able to participate fully in society and are often forced to leave the workforce due to lack of available childcare places. Inequality has to end. We need a publicly funded, publicly provided, universal, affordable and accessible childcare system. This is the reason I will be supporting the motion.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank Deputy Kerrane for tabling this motion and the Minister, Deputy Foley, for her own response.

In my time as Minister, I was privileged to meet many childcare professionals and see the skill and dedication they bring to their role. I was pleased to hear the Minister, Deputy Foley, talk about childcare professionals in her contribution, and particularly pleased to hear her talk about the issue of their pay. Due to the value my colleagues in the Green Party and I place on our early years professionals, I was able to secure funding in budget 2025 to support a new pay agreement for staff, with €45 million across the full year. We all recognise that €45 million is not enough but it is a step in showing the value the State places on the women and men who educate and care for our children every single day. Not one cent of that €45 million will be paid out, however, without an employment regulation order, which is currently being negotiated. Does the Minister of State agree with me that it is essential that the joint labour committee recognise the impact that low pay has on childcare professionals and agree that the highest possible hourly rate using that additional funding of €45 million, and any remaining funding from previous core funding allocations, should be achieved?

I listened carefully to the Minister's speech, particularly what was said on the issue of the public model.

I was critical of what is included in the programme for Government on this issue. It lacked any degree of ambition. When I asked the Taoiseach directly about the commitment on the public model on 26 February, he gave me an extremely non-committal answer and spoke about resources, costs and the usual issues. The Minister of State understands how difficult it is to make anything happen in government. You have to fight, be that with your officials, within your party, with coalition partners or with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform. You also have to bring the sector along. In the area of childcare, many of those fights have already taken place. Significant reforms have been achieved. There is momentum, which is leading in one direction, that is, to a public model.

The Minister, Deputy Foley, referred to the action plan and linked it to State provision. While the programme for Government commitment is weak, right now it is all we have. We need more specifics from the Government tonight. When is the action plan expected to be concluded? When will it be published? Will it be part of the Department’s budget submission over the summer? Will we hear the Ministers, Deputies Chambers and Donohoe, speak about allocating funding towards the public model when the budget is announced in October 2025?

Childcare needs a champion in Government now more than ever. I ask the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Foley, not to let the chance slip away when so much momentum has built up. I ask them to ensure we see public childcare filling those areas of low capacity throughout the country and delivered in this Government term.

Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Forty years ago, when I was first elected to Clonmel corporation, one of the first issues I dealt with was childcare. I said at the time that a public childcare service was the solution to what was even then a difficult issue. After more than 25 years involvement in community childcare services in Elm Park in Clonmel, I am more convinced than ever that the public system is the only solution. Over time, other agencies have come to a similar view, including the citizens’ assembly, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and Together for Public, in which 43 civic society organisations have come together, including the National Women’s Council, trade unions, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and early childhood organisations. A new public system could learn valuable lessons from our service in Elm Park in Clonmel. Clever Clogs, as it is known, is community based and provides a quality childcare service in a purpose-built unit. It is supported by the local community, with a local board of management and committed staff and parents. It receives exceptional support from the county childcare committee. As a board member, I express my thanks and appreciation to all the staff involved in childcare and all the parents involved in Clever Clogs and childcare in Clonmel.

There are huge challenges, as the Minister obviously knows, in the area of early childcare. Some of these include deficiencies in capacity, with thousands of children on waiting lists; parents paying anything up to €1,000 per month for childcare costs; poor pay and conditions for staff; and serious problems in recruitment and retention of staff. The current situation is untenable. A SIPTU trade union survey of staff in 2024 found that 86% identified low pay as their biggest work issue. Some 68% identified pressure due to staff shortages, while 65% identified stress and burnout. Managers in the services identified recruitment and retention of staff as the most critical challenge facing the sector, with the possibility of room and service closures.

Childcare must be viewed as a right for all, not as a commercial service. That means the roll-out of publicly funded and delivered childcare services, better pay and conditions for early educators, who should be paid directly by the State, and a guaranteed legal right to affordable, accessible and universal early education for every child.

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I wish to raise serious concerns about childcare in my area. There is no doubt that childcare has become like a second mortgage for families. It is crippling many young families. While there are significant issues throughout the country, I will raise an issue in my area of Mayo. Claremorris is a town with fewer than 4,000 people. Such is the lack of childcare places that one childcare provider alone has more than 100 children on its waiting list. These are families where parents have obtained job offers and, in many cases, where mothers want to get back to work. They have been offered employment but simply cannot accept it because they have no childcare place for their child.

From speaking to childcare providers, a litany of issues is preventing more childcare providers from entering the industry. Many are actually contemplating leaving. Can I have Minister of State’s attention for a brief moment? There will be no one to replace these childcare providers. Under the core funding model, rates have been frozen for the past three years. Meanwhile, the costs of business, energy, labour, insurance and rates are all rising. However, childcare providers do not have the ability to increase their rates and many are seeking to leave the industry.

There are major issues with regard to administration. The core funding model has created an administrative burden, particularly in the context of additional requests around accounting practices. This needs to be seriously looked at.

An Amárach study found that two thirds of mothers would like the option of staying at home. As part of the Government’s review of childcare and the core funding model, which is seriously needed, more supports should be given to families, particularly in the early years, to support the choice of staying at home with a financial package, such as a subvention.

Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context

One of the main issues affecting countless families is childcare. The Dáil recognises the significant challenges many parents face in affording and finding suitable childcare. The shortage of childcare places has left many children on waiting lists. The high costs, sometimes exceeding €1,000 per month, place an immense additional financial burden on families. We must acknowledge that childcare workers are not paid enough and do not receive fair working conditions.

Independent Ireland finds areas of compatibility between the motion and our manifesto. Both highlight the unaffordable childcare costs, which sometime exceed €1,000 per month, and pledge to reduce these costs while providing early learning supports for providers. The motion notes the poor pay and conditions for early years educators. Although our manifesto does not detail this specifically, it includes commitments to support front-line workers, like teachers and healthcare staff, suggesting a general alignment with improving public sector conditions, which could be extended to early childcare providers. Additionally, the motion calls for State-led facilities and capital investment in childcare. Our manifesto supports increased funding for early childcare services, showing openness to public investment in the sector.

Parents already have enough to manage, from getting to work every day with rising fuel costs, including the recent carbon tax, to paying mortgages. Sometimes, the cost of childcare is nearly as high as the mortgage itself. The everyday cost of living combined with childcare expenses mean parents are constantly struggling to pay either their mortgage or their childcare bill. A shortage of childcare places is leading to long waiting lists. Many parents struggle to secure a place for their child, sometimes having to wait until their child is too old for early years care.

How is it that a service so crucial to most Irish people's lives is still so greatly unsupported? There has been a mass exodus of staff from the sector, with no apparent incentive for new recruits to replace those who have left. Waiting lists are so long that children on them will have outgrown the need for early years care by the time they reach the top. The demand is so great that one would be forgiven for presuming the service is free, but the eye-wateringly expensive fees per child often surpass what the average Irish person pays for a mortgage. It is a broken system in need of a complete rebuild.

High-quality childcare is crucial for cognitive development. Children in well-structured, stimulating environments tend to perform better academically and develop stronger language and cognitive skills. Conversely, limited access to quality care can hinder these developmental milestones. Children who attend high-quality early childcare are better prepared for school, both academically and socially. This readiness can lead to better long term educational outcomes.

Many providers are struggling with financial viability due to high operating costs and insufficient funding. They often find it challenging to balance quality care with affordability. The Government has proposed plans to drastically reduce childcare costs to €200 per month, which would significantly ease the financial burden on families. When will this happen or is it just another broken election promise? I have met with childcare professionals who provide this service on numerous occasions, especially during the lifetime of the previous Government. These are top-class providers, as we all know, but they have had to come up to Dublin, stand outside the Dáil in protest and beg for their very survival. They were ignored by the previous Government, month after month and year after year. These are the forgotten people, but they provide an excellent service on the ground, whether in west Cork or any other part of the country. Why did the Government put a promise in place in the run-up to the general election? It looks to me like another promise that, as of yet, has not been delivered upon. Maybe the Minister of State has something to announce today which will change that. If so, I will certainly be the first to welcome it. Some of these childcare professionals are on the verge of going out of business. Some of them are chased to within an inch of their lives with accountability, checks, governance and everything they have to do. It is almost impossible for them to keep going. The previous Government ignored them. There is no doubt about that, otherwise they would not have been up here protesting. Every one of them used to say when they came to Dublin that they did not want to be here. The parents followed them. They came here because the parents supported them and understood the crisis they were facing, but the Government ignored them for many years. I plead with the Minister of State to turn that around immediately.

Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I have mentioned this on numerous occasions but I am going to mention it again. I go back to the HighScope Perry Preschool study in the US which found that for every $1 invested in quality early education in the childcare sector and in primary school there was a $7 return. In euro terms, it has the same positive impact on children's outcomes and development. It is extremely important but we do not afford it enough importance in terms of investment or consideration for the people involved in the sector.

My constituency is suffering from a severe shortage of childcare places. It is a rapidly growing area that is not helped by measures that have driven small, independent childcare providers out of business. There are staff shortages due to historic low pay, thanks, in part, to the core funding model that has limited the ability of providers to deal with rising operational costs like those relating to pay, utilities, rent and supplies, all of which have increased post-Covid. Equally bad is the overwhelming nature of the regulatory requirements and administrative tasks. In my constituency, a couple of facilities have had to close. One operator said it was because they just could not handle the administration any more. They ran a very successful, small enough facility and were happy to keep going but they could not deal with all of the administration. It was just too much.

We need to protect children and make sure we have regulation, but we have to balance it out. We need to simplify the system for smaller providers in order to keep them operational. Smaller providers are better for the community. It is the big operators that get away with the shoddy practices. Remember Giraffe Childcare, one third of whose facilities were found to be non-compliant? Well, they are at it again. I know of a mother who recently moved to Adamstown and knew very few people in the area. She needed an advocate to go with her to discuss issues relating to her child. I sent a colleague to support her at the meeting but my colleague was refused entry. She asked if they could contact senior management and they said "No, you can't go. This is political." The person was denied an advocate who has experience in this area. She had to face a group of managers and take notes about her child's situation. Somehow, they thought that sending someone from a TD's office might be too political. They were more concerned about covering themselves rather than the outcome for children. That is why we need to keep the independent operators incentivised.

As with this motion, I have long supported the provision of State-owned childcare to help to address the growing deficit. We see it in many other European countries. It is widely successful in France and Sweden, for example. The aspirations in the programme for Government are welcome, but, as others have said, we need to see the terms of reference, have proper consultation with the stakeholders and get a guarantee of meaningful resources to increase the facilities overall. Separate measures are also needed to help our existing local childcare providers. It is a serious issue so we need to take it seriously.

Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

This is a very important motion. I thank Deputy Kerrane for tabling it. We all remember the election campaign. When we were calling to people's doors, childcare was a constant issue. In many cases, both parents have to go out to work. They need to be out of home to keep a home, and that is the honest truth. They are having difficulties sourcing places and likewise, professional childminders and childcare professionals have many problems. During the summer months when children are at home from school, these childcare professionals either have to find other work or sign on. That is not fair given that they do such a great job. They are vetted and are thoroughly professional in every way. They have to be above board and the operators that provide these services, like Little Acorns in Kilgarvan, do a great job for parents. They are a very important part of our society today.

All over County Kerry childcare professionals are doing great work. It is very responsible work. Anything to do with minding other people's children is very responsible. I know because we have run a school bus for many years. When one is in charge of other people's children, it is a fairly onerous job. I know that well. One has to be very careful and do everything right. We really appreciate those people but the costs are so high, on top of everything else. Families have massive bills to pay. Previously, it was just the mortgage that was big but now many people, after taking the advice of the SEAI on air-to-water pumps and so forth, are finding that they have massive ESB bills. One young father told me the other day that his ESB bill is more than his mortgage and likewise with childcare fees. Childcare is very costly because it has to be because we are talking about minding other people's children.

Childcare workers find it difficult during holiday time. This is not good enough. These workers should be paid all year round and have their holidays, the same as everyone else. I do not take any holidays but that is not for everyone. They do a great job, they are professionals and they have to be. They are vetted and everything has to be right. We appreciate what they are doing but we need to support them more. Families are in serious financial trouble trying to keep going. Thankfully, we have a growing population. Parents and mothers are having young babies constantly and children are our future.

We must protect our future. To do that, we must protect our children and youngsters and help them put their best foot forward. We must ensure there is a service in place for people who must go to work. It is not a luxury anymore. People must go to work to keep the door open and the roof over their heads.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I, too, compliment Sinn Féin on bringing forward this very timely and important motion. Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí. It is a bad state of affairs if we do not look after our young people and nurture them properly.

Ar an gcéad dul síos, I salute na máithreacha go léir, the mothers who care for children in their homes, as well as the extended family - grandparents and neighbours and friends in the sense of the meitheal. The old adage is that it takes a village to raise a child.

I salute the visionaries for the community crèches especially, as well as private crèches that exist. They must be supported because they involve volunteers. We cannot kill the spirit of the volunteer.

The Minister of State, Deputy Collins, visited Naíonra Chaisleáin Nua last Wednesday evening when he was in Newcastle village. He saw it for himself at first hand. I am very proud to have been involved in the setting up of Naíonra Chaisleáin Nua. It was the brainchild of Helen Nic Craith, a sister-in-law of mine. A voluntary board has continued to run it. It has responsibility for children in the first instance - babies, toddlers, preschool and after-school services. It also has responsibility for its employees. It looks after them. There is a very happy relationship between staff and management, led by Mary and Joanne. It is important we have proper conditions and wages. I met Marie Lonergan, who is there from the inception of the service, which is in place for more than 20 years. She made a very passionate plea for workers to be respected and supported. Sadly, they are not. They are treated as second-class citizens. They do not get the same rate of pay or holiday pay. The voluntary boards do their best. The early years supports help to support such facilities. Another problem relates to the maintenance and retention of staff. The naíonra has been very lucky. Because it is a wonderful place to work, the staff have stayed, but recently a number of them have had to retire or they have reached the end of their time on a CE scheme. The naíonra is finding it hard to replace the staff, which is a problem that is experienced throughout the country. A multifaceted approach is needed.

I salute Cahir Bears, Ardfinnan Community Playschool and the childcare service in Ballyporeen. They are wonderful institutions. They got funding from Pobal but they had some difficulty in drawing down the money and getting it. They had to be architects, managers, builders and everything else. Many of these services are wonderful success stories. That is the case in Cluain Meala freisin and in many villages. This started with five daltaí. My own daughter was one of the first students in the first naíonra. She is 30 years of age now. Twenty-five years ag fás – fiche bliain is fiche.

I want to impress on the Government that we must look at childcare. It is not the case that one size fits all. We must support parents who are in the home and allow them to be there as that is the best of all solutions. The second best approach is community childcare and then private childcare. The situation must be considered in an holistic way. All the facilities cannot be public because that does not work. We see that with the education system itself. There are difficulties and challenges, especially with special needs and the clamour for special education places. We have many such services in the country. Many schools have got extra rooms but some people have been left out. I could mention Bansha National School, which is still awaiting sanction for a second room. The boards of management in those schools and the principals and staff want the facilities. It is great to have people who want to care and to give extra care to special children. They need to be supported. I know Rome was not built in a day but it is tough. We do need more special schools. We have a special school in Clonmel, Tipperary. Ferryhouse, which is south of Clonmel, is no longer in use for its previous purpose. It is ideally located on the border with Waterford. The river is all that is between us. West Waterford has struggled to get places as well.

This is a very timely motion. The Minister was here earlier and the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, is here now. We have an adversarial system that results in the Government rejecting the motion. It is a good motion and we all need to work together. Ní neart go chur le chéile. We must try to do that for the sake of the children, including those yet unborn, who need places such as the ones in my area of Caisleán Nua, where there are up to six.

I intend to support the naíonraí we have. My wife, Margaret, and I have 13 grandchildren, so we will be in need of childcare and childcare facilities for some time, as well as national schools. It is an evolving situation. It is great to see it continuing. These places are so badly needed. The rules are rigorous. The childcare services know what they have to do. They are looking after other people's children. There are strict rules, including HACCP and the guidelines on food preparation. The vast majority of naíonraí are very happy places. I heard previous speakers refer to situations where people were overcharged or they did not get access to the free scheme. That is a pity. Is mór an trua é sin. It is important that future generations are nurtured. We must give respect to the boards of management, the management and staff, including cleaners and the suppliers. In our community of Caisleán Nua, tá na naíonraí ag fás. They are expanding. We have 120 daltaí and 17 staff. It is like an industry in our small village. It is one of the biggest employers in the area.

I remember that when we first opened the doors, people came from New Ross, which is 70 miles away. I could not believe it. That shows the kind of demand that was there. The shortage of places has been addressed to a good extent, but there is continuing need and a demand for extra support. Funding for childcare services from Pobal is great, as is funding for the Department, but it is for construction. Many community initiatives are suffering due to a lack of continuing upgrades and maintenance supports. We must examine such issues and be imaginative. We must have a fund, whether it is for community centres or community crèches, for maintenance and contingencies for events such as accidents, lightning strikes or other events. God knows what will happen. Buildings get old and they need to be upgraded, especially with modern heating systems and everything else. We must also bear in mind running costs and the cost of fuel. It is not simple. It has been a great pleasure for me to have been involved in Naíonra Chaisleáin Nua. I am no longer on the board but I still have regular contact with it. I love to go in to hear the children ag súgradh out in the yard and then to see them walking from there up to the scoil náisiúnta. It is an holistic approach that keeps the village alive.

I have spoken about the childcare services in my area but there are also wonderful community crèches in Clonmel, Mullinahone, Caiseal Mumhan, Cathair Dún Iascaigh, Ballyporeen and Ardfinnan. There are many others I have not mentioned, such as Ballingarry. I remember Clare Cashman and Sr. Patricia. The service was their brainchild. We must stimulate such activists and people who want to do good and to provide childcare places and other facilities literally from the cradle to the grave.

Tá an t-am almost caite.

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I welcome this opportunity to discuss the important issue of early learning and childcare. It is clear from the discussion so far that we all recognise the importance of early learning and childcare for children and their families as well as for society and the wider economy.

In her opening statement the Minister, Deputy Foley, described the constituent parts of Together for Better - the Government's funding model for early learning and childcare, which has an allocation of €1.25 billion in 2025 alone. She also summarised how this funding model has brought significant benefits to children and their families, to educators and practitioners as well as to providers since it was first introduced in September 2022.

Among the achievements since then are the high participation rates in core funding among services, with 92% of providers participating in year 3 of the scheme and a higher number of providers in absolute terms when compared with previous years; a fee freeze in place in the majority of services; a 36% increase in the number of services offering the national childcare scheme; a 32% increase in the number of children supported to access that scheme to sponsorship arrangements and a 230% increase in the number of children more broadly who benefit from this scheme; extended support for graduate-led provision outside the ECCE programme; and greater stability and sustainability in the sector, with a minimum core funding allocation of €14,000 now in place.

There is greater operational and financial transparency in the use of public funding. Importantly, two consecutive rounds of employment regulation orders have resulted in improved pay for an estimated 70% of those affected, and for 50% of those working in the sector. New negotiations involving the joint labour committee are at an advanced stage, with further improvements in pay expected later this year through updated employment regulation orders. These negotiations are being supported by €45 million in additional State funding that has been ring-fenced for this purpose.

All of our available data point to an expanding sector. For example, data from the early years sector profile survey show that between 2022 and 2024, the estimated number of enrolments in services rose by 19%. Core funding application data shows that between year 1 and year 3 of the scheme, capacity in the sector increased by 15%, with analysis showing that increased capacity was of the type that is in highest demand relative to supply. Data from Tusla on service closures and new service registrations showed a net increase of 226 in the overall number of services in 2024 and the lowest number of service closures in the past six years. There has also been international recognition of our efforts, with the European Commission recently endorsing the approach of Government and welcoming the substantial progress that we have made.

While noting these strong indicators of progress, the Government has not shied away from the challenges that continue to persist in this sector, including high out-of-pocket costs for parents, low pay and working conditions for educators and practitioners and a lack of supply of places in certain areas and for certain cohorts. In the new programme for Government, we have set out a pathway to address these challenges.

In addition to planned reforms to the funding model and increases in the levels of supply referred to by the Minister, Deputy Foley, there is a wider and ambitious reform agenda under way in the area of early learning and childcare through implementation of a range of other policies and programmes, which also deserve special mention. Work is under way to develop a new implementation plan for the First 5 strategy. Work is under way to implement phase 2 of the National Action Plan for Childminding 2021-2028. Work is under way to implement recommendations in Partnership for the Public Good, the report of the expert group for a new funding model. Work is under way to implement Nurturing Skills, the workforce plan for the sector for the period 2021 to 2028, with commitments to develop career pathways, promote careers in the sector and support staff recruitment, complementing recent achievements and future plans to improve pay and conditions of employment in the sector.

Work is also under way to finalise an action plan for administrative and regulatory simplification following detailed engagement with the sector last year and an independent review by Indecon of the end-to-end processes linked to departmental funding schemes. Planning work is under way for a new State agency to support the delivery of early learning and childcare. There is work to develop a national plan to further the development of Irish language provision in the early learning and childcare sector, which will be published later this year. There is ongoing work to review the legislative and regulatory framework for school-age childcare, to strengthen the inspection system through ensuring that Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, has the appropriate enforcement powers to deal with serious cases of non-compliance by services and through planning work to establish a single inspectorate for early learning and childcare.

Early learning and childcare is a public good with benefits across society. In recognition of this, the Government has agreed an ambitious new programme of work to allow us to build on the significant progress made in the area in recent years. Moreover, the Government is committed to continued investment in this sector, in particular through additional investment in budget 2026, to achieve our combined objectives of affordable, accessible and quality early learning and childcare.

Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The consequences of the crisis in childcare are well known. Many parents who want to work are prevented from doing so. They have to leave their jobs or reduce their hours and stay at home with their children instead. This is preventing many people, women in particular, from returning to the workplace. It impacts hugely on low-income families. At present, we have some of the highest childcare costs in the EU. Thousands of parents cannot find places for their children or are forced to travel very long distances to access childcare, particularly in rural communities. They are being put under enormous pressure as a result. Most importantly, this is a place where children go to learn, develop and grow. That is why it is vital that we get it right and ensure that it is high quality, accessible and affordable to families.

If we are going to address this crisis and capacity issues in the sector, we need to look at the treatment of early years educators. We know there is extremely high staff turnover. Many good educators are being lost because pay and conditions are not sufficient. Some early years educators are being paid less than the living wage. The increase the Minister mentioned is a pittance. Not only is it contributing to the crisis in childcare, it also demonstrates a total lack of respect for these highly skilled workers. Research by SIPTU indicates that 95% of early years facility managers are concerned that their problems in recruiting and retaining staff will negatively impact service provision.

Many commitments have been given by the Government parties in recent months, including €200 per month childcare pay increases for early years educators and for public provision and State-owned childcare facilities. There is talk of publishing an action plan, which is welcome, but there has not been any movement on this to date. It is time to live up to these promises, to act to deliver genuinely affordable and accessible childcare for all and to move towards a public model. It is absolutely critical to ease the burden on families and to show real respect and value for early years educators.

Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin (Wicklow-Wexford, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Childcare costs are completely out of control, with many people now paying the equivalent of a second mortgage. A local man who came in to do a job in my office this week stated that most of his wages went towards the €1,400 per month charge for childcare, while his wife's income went towards the €1,600 per month mortgage. In view of the high cost of living, how are families supposed to cope? How are they supposed to survive? Childcare costs in County Wicklow average €11,000 per year per child, while across the border in County Wexford they are up to €9,000 per year. Rents in County Wexford average almost €1,100 per month while those in Wicklow average over €2,000 per month. With mortgage repayments often over €1,600 per month, parents are really struggling.

The figures relating to lone parent vary across my constituency, with disadvantaged pockets of Arklow town hitting up 36%. That is one in three parents. While there are 15 private crèches in the town, there are no community childcare facilities in Arklow according to the Pobal early years maps. There are just ten community childcare facilities in this huge constituency, which stretches from beyond Rathdrum to beyond Kilmuckridge. These are a far more affordable option for low-income families, costing approximately €100 per child per week. By not having these community facilities the Government is disincentivising people to go to work or to go back to work, with some feeling that are better off not working. No barriers like this should exist.

There are long waiting list to get a child a place in a crèche, with some parents putting their names down while the child is still in the womb. Early year educators and providers have been underpaid and undervalued by successive Governments. The Government needs to look at the funding model. It needs to engage with the umbrella group together with the public and to give us a timeframe for an action plan to address the childcare crisis.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Deputy is eating into his colleagues' time.

Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

My constituency of Longford-Westmeath is no different from every other one mentioned this evening when it comes to the challenges in the early years sector. Parents are facing high prices and an eternal struggle to find places, while educators constantly have to fight for better pay, terms and conditions.

The Government's amendment will ring very hollow for one area of my constituency. Further developments and investments mean nothing to parents in Kinnegad, where the Montessori is due to close at the end of June. The Minister, Deputy Foley, spoke of identified unmet demand and unmet need. She should come to Kinnegad which is a perfect example of both of them. Those parents received notice that the Montessori is to close. The parents are overwhelmingly positive about the service which has been in operation for 20 years but, be that as it may, that service will close and those parents are at their wits' end. There is no capacity in local services and no capacity in local towns. There is no capacity even across the county line. Parents who work, particularly over the summer, are beside themselves trying to find alternatives.

Westmeath County Council is only too aware that demand outweighs supply, not only in Kinnegad but across Westmeath. It will work with any new provider, whether it is an ECCE service, a school aged team or those working with children aged from birth to three years, because there is unmet demand in every single one of those areas.

I understand Westmeath childcare has been in contact with the Department. I would like to know if the Department has responded. I raised this matter with the Minister almost a month ago and I am still waiting for a response, which is, frankly, not good enough. Has the Minister responded to Westmeath childcare? Will she address the issues in Kinnegad? Towns like Kinnegad cannot wait on the never-never for a vague promise contained in the programme for Government with absolutely no reference to a timeline and no detail on a term of reference while parents remain on the phone night and day to every possible provider, not only in their own town but in other counties. That is the level of unmet need that exists in just one town in my constituency.

I could go on and on about every other town because I am not aware of one service provider in my constituency which has capacity. I know a young family who will be paying €1,200 per month for childcare, having paid €450 for a deposit for a child who was more than 40 places down a waiting list. That is a reflection of the level of need in the childcare sector and that is what the Government needs to get to grips with.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

We do not have a fit-for-purpose childcare provision system in this State. It is failing and I will provide examples of how that works in the real world. One person told me:

Regarding the ongoing struggle we are facing in securing childcare for our 12 month old son, his name has been on multiple waiting lists since November 2023 while my partner was still pregnant. Despite regular follow-ups, we are now being informed that while this was initially a 12 to 18-month waiting list, this has been extended to 18 to 24 months.

Another person wrote:

My partner, a nurse and midwife currently working in Our Lady of Lourdes in Drogheda, has already taken extended unpaid leave to care for our son. She must return to work in June or her contract will be terminated.

That is the reality that family is dealing with.

A lady told me:

I have my son's name down on every creche list in Dundalk, some since I was 12 weeks pregnant. We have no place for him when I return to work.

I do not have sufficient time to continue, but the reality is that this is a mess and the system is not working. We need to consider AIMS from the point of view of making it fit for purpose because there are serious failings there.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I am stunned by the amendment the Minister has tabled to the motion. The motion seeks nothing more than for the Government to implement what the Minister outlined in the programme for Government and seeks further information and detail on the Government's commitment to our early years sector in the programme for Government, and the Minister could not even support that. The amendment refers to the terms of reference for a consultation and a timeframe, meeting the Together for Public alliance before commencing with the consultation and a timeline for the action plan.

Last week, the Minister's party leader posted a video online asking for feedback on what the Government needs to do in terms of access, affordability and supporting staff. This followed a survey he launched eight months ago to consult parents and stakeholders on their views. Why does the Government not launch the consultation it has laid out and committed to in the programme for Government rather than posting online videos and surveys?

I am afraid, having read the amendment the Government has put forward, that it is just like we saw in the general election, namely, all talk. The Minister needs to meet representatives of the Together for Public alliance, not her Government officials. We also need to provide hope. We have wonderful early years educators who are leaving the sector. I have published the figures on some counties which have a turnover of over 50%. We are losing these educators.

It galls me when I see the Minister refer to pay increases. The last pay increase took over 15 months to negotiate and ended up in the Labour Court. The end result was an increase of 65 cent per hour. These educators are left at the whim of a joint labour committee that is not working and will not deliver for the sector. I ask the Minister to again examine our motion which is simply looking for further detail on the Government's commitment. The fact the Government cannot support it is very concerning the sector.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context

As the debate has concluded, I must put the amendment.

Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context

On a point of order, is that my amendment?

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context

It is the Government amendment.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context

In accordance with Standing Order 85(2), the division is deferred until the weekly division time next week.