Early Childhood Care and Education: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]
The following motion was moved by Deputy Robert Troy on Tuesday, 11 February 2014:
That Dáil Éireann:
notes that:
— child care provision in Ireland encompasses a mixed model of provision with services delivered through the community, private and public sector; there are approximately 4,300 child care centres in Ireland; and the number of staff employed in the child care sector in Ireland is around 21,000;
— there are 405,000 households in Ireland with children under 10 years of age, of which 266,000 households have children under five;
— the birth rate in Ireland is the highest in the EU and projections suggest growth in the number of children under five in the period to 2016;
— a wide diversity of child care arrangements are used in Ireland and 77% of preschool children are cared for by parents or relatives;
— non-parental child care is very important for families with working parents and 68% of couples with preschool children where both are working full-time use such child care; and
— the annual cost of full-time child care for two children is €16,500 per year;
further notes that:
— current child care funding policy is absent of any supports for working families who do not avail of the community child care subvention scheme;
— the early childhood service infrastructure is under-utilised due to inconsistent access to child care funding schemes and non-regulation of the paid childminding sector;
— subsidised child care places are not equally accessible in all areas of the country; and
— the number of children of less than five years old will increase between 2011 and 2016 by around 4%;
agrees that:
— the link between child care and unemployment can be seen by noting that couples with a child dependant are less likely to exit the live register and are more likely to become long-term unemployed than other groups;
— support for child care for working families is likely to increase labour market participation;
— targeted child care support incentives linked with employment and focused on lower income families offer significant economic benefits by incentivising those on the margin of employment;
— the current community child care subvention scheme reinforces the segregation of children from low income families in community child care services and undermines the principle of inclusion; and
— there is a lack of incentive for paid childminders to become tax compliant and register with the Child and Family Agency, CFA, due to the inaccessibility of child care funding schemes for home-based child care service providers;
accepts that:
— the cost of child care in Ireland suggests that average weekly expenditure on child care is a significant burden for families;
— the cost of child care in Ireland is the second most costly in the OECD in net terms as a percentage of wages;
— for sole parents the average cost of child care is estimated to be 45% of average wages; and
— the barriers to employment as a result of child care costs are particularly severe among lower income groups;
and calls on the Government to:
— introduce a new child care incentive to target specific groups where child care costs are a barrier to labour market participation;
— provide a direct payment to families related to the cost of child care, through the family income supplement scheme, FIS;
— widen the range of child care options available to low income working families supported under the FIS to include privately managed child care services including registered childminders;
— introduce a tax break for working families with children whose income is marginally above the FIS limits; and
— ensure that only expenditure on tax compliant child care providers registered with the CFA are eligible for any initiatives introduced.
Debate resumed on amendment No. 1:
To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:
"recognises the importance of:
— quality early years interventions in supporting the emergence of best outcomes for young children, including in relation to school-readiness and cognitive and behavioural development; and
— affordable and accessible child care to support low and middle income working families and to incentivise labour market activation;
notes:
— that an estimated €260 million will be expended in 2014 by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs on early years programmes;
— the provision of substantial child income supports for 600,000 families through child benefit and for a further 42,000 low-paid working families through family income supplement, totalling €2.2 billion per annum;
— the importance of Government support for the universal preschool year in maintaining the early years sector in the face of the greatest economic collapse in the country's history;
— that the annual cost of child care to parents is reduced by over €2,370 when a child is participating in the free preschool year;
— the increased investment by Government to preserve the universality of the free preschool year despite increased costs arising from increased demand;
— the findings from the "Growing Up in Ireland" study indicating that "one in four parents who availed of the free pre-school year said they would not have been able to send their child to pre-school had it not been for the scheme" and that "this rose to more than one in three among more disadvantaged families";
— the burden which child care costs can place on low and middle income working families;
agrees:
— on the ongoing need to support the achievement of high quality standards in early years services;
— that the Government's focus on jobs and growth as the best means of recovering living standards will in turn further contribute to takeup of childcare;
— on the need to implement such quality improvements as a critical precursor to any future expansion in universal child care provision, including the possible introduction of a second free preschool year if resources allow; and
— that child income supports play a key role in sharing the costs of child rearing with families, including child care costs;
welcomes the implementation of the preschool quality agenda including:
— the publication of preschool inspection reports, with 2,530 reports now available online;
— the ongoing recruitment by the Child and Family Agency of early years inspectors to fill current vacancies;
— the allocation of €0.5 million in 2014 to allow the recruitment of further early years inspectors and to strengthen the national inspection services;
— the allocation of €2.5 million in 2014 to support the establishment of a new national quality support service;
— the enactment, through the Child and Family Agency Act 2013, of amendments to the Child Care Act 1991 allowing for the introduction of statutory registration of early years services, the introduction of pre-prosecution enforcement functions for early years inspectors and the increase in penalties on foot of convictions at District Court level;
— the introduction of a new system of statutory registration of early years services commencing in 2014;
— the announced increase in qualification requirements for early years staff from September 2014; and
— the allocation of additional funding in 2013, 2014 and 2015 to support the training and upskilling of early years staff; and supports:
— the development in 2014 of an early years strategy which will set out an overall approach to the improvement of quality in the early years sector;
— the carrying out during 2014 of a review of the aims of the targeted child care schemes with a view to considering how any future expansion of the schemes, as resources allow, should be targeted to align with Government policy;
— the continued provision of in-work supports for low-income working families and assistance for unemployed parents to access employment, training or education programmes; and
— continued co-operation between the Departments of Social Protection and Children and Youth Affairs in relation to childcare and family income supports."
-(Minister for Children and Youth Affairs)
This is a debate about child care. One part of the child care debate that needs to be aired is the fact that there was a time in this country when one could stay at home and rear one's children. I do not mean that was done by a woman or a man but it was done by one of the parents or perhaps shared between them. When I was growing up my father, as a carpenter and as a man who brought home turf, could manage to pay the mortgage and get us food. The role my mother chose was to make the best use of that money and we got by quite well. Every evening when I came home I was in a very lucky position in that one of parents was there and in my case it was my mother.
I accept that some people might not be satisfied at home and may not consider that role to be fulfilling. Some people hold that view and I can understand why, and in that case they need child care. However, what really drives the need for child care is the fact that a monster must be fed and that is the monster of the massive mortgage that everyone has today. During the past 20 years and probably still today banks will give one as much money as they consider one is capable of paying back. Two people were encouraged to go out to work but that did not make people any richer. What it did was put up the price of housing. Now if one parent decides that he or she wants to stay at home or both parents want to share the duties, they can no longer do that. I return to the point that while some people need child care now, the reality is that people are left with no choice but to have child care. There was the idea that if child care was provided, people would be able to go out to work, but what the hell are people doing when they are at home minding their children? It is the most important job of all and there is lots of work in it. Why is there the idea that people have to get out to do work? Child care is the most important job of all as far as I am concerned.
There is a rush now to turn life into a factory. One does not have time to look after one's children or to look after one's mother. One puts one children in one institution - a child care facility - and one's parents in another institution - an old people's home . Why are we doing that? Are we doing that because we want to do it? When my father gets older, I would like someone in my family to be able to take care of him because he took care of me and I think we should return the favour. That debate needs to be had. It might not be very popular with some people that I would say that perhaps too much work is being done. The reality is that today parents have to do 100 hours work outside the home in order to get by when in the past they could get by with doing 40 and 50 hours work outside the home. We have to question the motivation behind this new way of life. To me, it seems the motivation comes from multinationals which ultimately would like one to work 24-7 and sleep on a bale of hay beside the machine on which one works for them, but we should not let them decide what society is like. We should decide what society is like and we should structure society in such a way that if one wants to look after one's children, one will be able to do so, and if one wants to look after one's parents, one will be able to do so because that is a natural enough thing to do. That is no doubting that I cannot see how anyone would care more than I would for my children and my father, and obviously the same goes for family. They have a natural vested interest in it.
When there was a controversy over problems in crèches, we heard that people may not have the proper qualifications, but what qualifications does one need to have a love for children? One either likes them or one does not. One either has a problem with cleaning a snotty nose or one does not. Paperwork is not going to make one like it. Now we are being told that to get better quality child care, we will have to pay these people even more, and I understand why because they are paid a pittance now. However, there is no logic to that. If we pay them what they should be paid, then the person who has to employ them will have to get even more money and have to work even longer. It is a vicious circle. Can we not sit down and think about this? Maybe there is a better way. There has to be a better way than turning life into something that happens in a factory and it being more efficient to do it a certain way. Families, love and all of that have nothing to do with efficiency. They have got to do with something a lot more important than that.
There needs to be investment in child care facilities where people want it but we also need to try to create a social structure whereby people are not forced into going down this road.
Deputy Catherine Byrne is sharing her time with Deputy Connaughton and others.
I welcome the debate on child care as it is an issue which affects most of us at some time in our lives. I was very lucky when I had my children in that I was able to stay at home and spend time with them and see them grow up, flourish and do all their activities. I spent many a time running around bringing groups of children from one end of the street to the other. Today things are very different for many young parents who do not have the choice I had to stay at home and rear my family. They have huge mortgages and other huge commitments that sometimes cannot be met unless both partners are working. Many are caught in the bubble of negative equity, as has been said, and need to go out to work to keep the roof over their head. It is all about choice. There are many young couples who do not have the choice I had and they have to return to work.
Total annual Government funding allocated to the child care support programmes is in the region of €260 million. Low income families can avail of the community child care subvention programme, which is provided through community not-for-profit child care services, and 25,000 children benefit from this programme each year. The Government also funds the childcare, education and training support programme to support parents who are in SOLAS courses or studying in VEC colleges. Some €145 is provided each week for full-day child care places, and more than 8,000 children currently benefit from this programme.
The free preschool year is another excellent programme funded by Government. It is open to all parents, and goes some way towards easing the burden of child care. At present, approximately 68,000 children benefit from this programme. I understand that extending this programme into a second year would have serious implications for the Minister's budget.
However, I strongly feel this would help many parents and families who are finding it very difficult to juggle work and home life. I urge the Minister to continue to pursue this matter, even though it may take some time to implement. I believe it is very important.
Regrettably, child care can be very expensive as most child care services are provided privately. It is a business, but many of these businesses provide a wonderful service and employ many people. Without that service, we would have more difficulties in finding places for child care. Recent analysis shows that the average weekly expenditure on paid child care for one preschool child rose from €118 per week in 2007 to €133 per week in 2013. The full-time cost of child care for a young child is between €730 and €1,100 per month, and these figures depend on the child's age and its need to be in a different part of a crèche at different times. For many parents, this has become another mortgage payment.
Most working mothers, when planning their return to work after their six months maternity leave, which is not necessarily paid, are confronted with the difficult decision as to who will mind their baby. By the time a baby reaches nine months, almost 40% are in regular child care that does not involve a parent. The most common type of childminder is a relative, most often a grandparent. In fact, 42% of nine-month-olds in non-parental child care are looked after by relatives. This is followed by the 31% minded by non-relatives, usually childminders, with the other 27% in centre-based care.
Emotionally, this is a very challenging time for new parents, and new mothers in particular. For many, it is not an easy decision to entrust a new baby to a stranger, which is what it is, and not see the baby from early morning until late in the evening. The emotional stress that comes with this can be very difficult for young mothers. Many mothers find themselves struggling with their work-life balance, trying to do their best for their child or children while also pursuing a career. For many who work long hours to pay for expensive child care, something has to give. This is why high quality, affordable child care is so important for those parents who want to continue to work, and it would also promote women's continuity in employment, which is a key issue in terms of the gender wage gap.
The issue of maternity and paternity leave also needs to be addressed. New mothers can avail of 26 weeks maternity leave from their job, but fathers do not have any statutory entitlement to paternity leave in Ireland. I believe this needs to change in line with other countries. In the UK, for example, fathers get up to two weeks paid paternity leave and can avail of up to 26 weeks paid additional paternity leave if the mother returns to work. It can sometimes be more economic and beneficial for the mother to return to work and the father to stay at home. Other countries also allow parents to share parental leave, which makes sense as every family situation is different. In Italy, for example, fathers receive 13 weeks paternity leave, fathers in Norway get 12 weeks, and fathers in Sweden can avail of 16 months, shared with the mother.
While I seem to be speaking mostly about mothers, I know and have myself witnessed the shared responsibility of fathers today in caring, loving and managing the home for their children. I believe shared maternity leave is not only good for the child, but it is also very good for parents. I urge the Minister to look at this into the future because I believe it is the way to go with regard to child care in this country.
I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on the motion. Currently, the Government is spending in the region of €260 million annually to support child care programmes, and that money is providing very valuable assistance to parents throughout the country in accessing affordable child care. In particular, the early childhood care and education, ECCE, programme and the community child care subvention programmes are particularly valuable to parents of young children, providing care in both private and community settings. Services offering the ECCE programmes receive capitation fees of up to €75 per week per qualifying child, depending on staff qualifications.
The issue of qualifications for people working with preschool children is a crucial question. Caring for small children is a very difficult job and it is only right and proper that such an important role should be restricted to those who have the interest and have taken the time to educate themselves in the area. I note that work on a preschool quality agenda is progressing and part of this involves increasing the qualification requirement for all staff caring for children in a preschool setting to a minimum of FETAC level 5 by September 2015. I believe this is very welcome but I want to stress that an enhanced regulatory and oversight regime is necessary to ensure the additional learning is reflected in work practices. A robust inspection regime will help allay the fears of parents that children are being maltreated in the manner seen on the "Prime Time" programme.
One worrying aspect about the inspection regime is the suggestion that increased costs will be reflected in increased annual fees for child care services. Rising costs for the child care sector would result in the reduction in the number of child care services and could also result in increased cost for parents, which would be counterproductive for the sector in the long run. Already, 77% of preschool children are cared for by parents or relatives. If significant inspection costs are passed on to child care providers, this figure could rise.
One difficulty I regularly encounter in terms of parents with children attending community child care facilities is that a delay in processing medical cards is placing great stress on families intending to have children cared for in a community child care setting. The review of discretionary medical cards that took place last July created great difficulty for parents considering placing children in child care in September. The subvention of €95 per week was the defining criteria as to whether child care was affordable.
I welcome the fact parents who get work during the school year continue to receive this subvention until the end of the school year, and have a further year of reduced support afterwards. Going back to work can be an expensive time for a family, and these are the sort of common sense measures that can be taken to ease that process. I do not believe that direct payments to parents via the family income supplement, FIS, is the way forward because that would simply swamp the FIS system and would require means assessment of the vast majority of the country's parents. However, tax breaks for child care and increased tax credits are incentives that could be put in place with much less effort. These, rather than any new child care subvention, are the measures that would be more beneficial to working parents.
I welcome this debate because it gives us an opportunity to speak once again about the opportunistic approach Fianna Fáil takes to everything. I will read a quote from October 2007, when the community child care programme was introduced. It was said to be "seriously flawed" and that it "will force low income parents to stop working as they won't be able to afford to pay for crèche places if their income exceeds the new limits". That was a point made by one of Fianna Fáil's then Deputies, Mr. Chris Andrews, about the flawed nature of the programme that was introduced. While we were at the height of the Celtic tiger, there were opportunities to produce not just a good quality child care programme, but also to give incentives for people going back to work. The problem at the time was that where both parents were working-----
I would like to call a quorum given Deputy Lawlor has such a positive contribution to make to the House.
A quorum cannot be called during Private Members' business.
If the Deputy read the Standing Orders, he might understand what is going on. The point I was making was that when Fianna Fáil was in power, its child care policies were quite simple - they were non-existent. It was a real crisis at the time because, if both parents were working, nothing could be given to them even if they were paying excessively for child care. There were neither tax credits nor tax breaks for parents where both are working.
Since we came to power, we have with difficulty maintained the existing standard. We have continued to provide the free education programme for those under five years of age, which I have welcomed. However, there are certain child care facilities in Dublin which will not take children under one year of age because the regulations are so strict and it requires such a high ratio of childminders to children. This is an issue we have to look at as it does not allow parents to go back to work.
I hope the Minister might raise the following point at the Cabinet table.
When we have stabilised our finances and lowered the deficit even further, we may look at giving some sort of tax break to working parents with children in child care. We must remember that even though children are attending school, they finish at 3 p.m. or 2.30 p.m. and need after-school care. We should find some way of helping them in that respect.
In our policies, we must take into consideration the fact that approximately 42% of childminders are relatives of the child. I am delighted to be able to speak here and highlight the mistakes the previous Fianna Fáil Administration made with regard to child care.
I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion. I cannot disagree with the tone of the Fianna Fáil motion. Every Member of this House is concerned with child welfare. We all wish that in an ideal world, a first-class and very affordable child care system would be generally available. Ideally, this should be based on the Nordic model but a huge investment is required to get to that stage. We saw a situation develop over the Celtic tiger years where child care could cost as much as a mortgage. The Celtic tiger has now vanished and people who bought houses during those years are now struggling with mortgages and huge child care costs. It is understandable that Fianna Fáil would like to rectify this situation in which parents find themselves, particularly as it happened on its watch, which it seems to have forgotten. Mind you, it abolished the early childcare supplement, which was worth €1,100 per year to parents of children under five. It is hypocritical of Fianna Fáil now to advocate increases in expenditure without telling us how it would find the money to implement all these changes. Would it be by increasing taxes or cutting expenditure in other areas, which we know are challenged? Let us hear the answers to some of these questions.
On the other hand, we can examine this Government's approach to child welfare to date. For the first time, we set up a dedicated Department for Children and Youth Affairs with a Cabinet Minister to ensure that children's welfare would be kept in its rightful place at the heart of Government. Good progress has been made so far. The Government prioritised and delivered a referendum on children's rights. A total of €260 million will be spent in 2014 on the early years programme. One in four parents would not have been able to send their children to preschool had it not been for the free preschool year.
When was that introduced?
The Government set up the new Child and Family Agency to focus on early intervention and family support.
The community childcare subvention scheme assists in providing quality child care at reduced rates to disadvantaged and low-income working parents. There are three fantastic community child care facilities in my area in Ballydesmond, Banteer and Bothar Bui. However, they are hugely challenged in terms of maintaining these services and struggle even more with rates bills, which they must pay and which are a real challenge. It is pity some of this was not looked at when we had more funds in Government. However, we must deal with this.
Preschool quality standards and staff qualifications are other challenges. The implementation of an eight-point preschool quality agenda has been prioritised and significant progress has been made in this area. All the research shows that the early years of child care are so important and impact greatly on education at a later stage. It is all about early intervention and the right start. We know how introducing a second free preschool year would greatly benefit children's education and development outcomes. I know this is one of the Minister's real objectives. However, it is a challenge in current economic circumstances.
It was interesting to hear Deputy Ó Cuív's comments last night about working mothers who must weigh up the cost of child care against the cost of returning to work. This is a huge issue but it is one of culture. There is a tendency to see the cost of child care as a mother's issue rather than an issue for the entire family unit. We need to change the discussion of this and change the culture. A total of 55% of our graduates are women. If the workforce is losing well-educated women who want to work, child care is also an issue for society as a whole. I am glad we have a Minister who is so passionate about children's issues. I commend the Government amendment to the House.
I welcome the opportunity to speak on this topic. From an Opposition point of view, it must be hard to criticise when one considers the fabulous work the Minister has done in her new role in a dedicated Department for children. It is quite a revelation and a major change. My wife and I were lucky enough to use the services of child care while trying to keep many jobs going at the same time. We were very fortunate to come across a crèche called Serendipity in Mallow which I must compliment as it is doing fabulous work like many others across the country.
The discussion is about low-income families but this is a blinkered focus because there are many middle-income people who find themselves very pressed for money due to legacy debt and other issues. In the famous words of the Minister for Finance, "what have you against these children?" because there are families who on outward appearances seem as if money is flathúileach but, unfortunately, it is not. I welcome the review of the existing targeted child care system scheme. The amount of money the Government is putting into the early years programme is significant. The challenges for families today are huge. We have all done it. Any delay or problem means that someone has to sacrifice getting to work on time. Perhaps we should be looking at allowing people in the public service to take leave of absence in the early years and come back because people are afraid that if they step out, they may not get their job back. We need to look at ways of accommodating parents who would like some time off, particularly in the early years, to provide care at home.
This is a very important issue that affects every family. I do not think people realise the importance of it until they are in that situation juggling time and kids. It is such a hard thing to do. When one gets through it, one wonders how one did it but people struggle through. I welcome the debate and thank the Minister for her work to date on this matter.
In the brief amount of time available to me, I will focus on access to the early childhood care and education, ECCE, year for children with disabilities. I thank Deputy Troy and his colleagues for tabling the motion. The motion deals with many shortcomings but it is unrealistic in the current climate. The amendment strikes me as something of a roll of honour of what has been achieved but it raises points pertinent to access for children with disabilities. It calls on the House to note the importance of Government support for the universal preschool year and goes on to call on the House to note the increased investment by Government to preserve the universality of the free preschool year.
I refer to a response I received from the HSE in reply to representations I made about access for a child with autism to the ECCE year. The relevant section of the letter stated that on querying supports for children with special needs attending mainstream preschools under the scheme, the HSE was advised that there is no obligation for a service under the ECCE grant to take a child with special needs if it cannot provide supports. The letter stated that the preschool should have a meeting with the parent and child before enrolment to identify whether or not it will be able to meet the needs of the individual child. I regret to say that I have tried to pursue this issue with the Department which says that it is not its responsibility. I have tried to pursue it with the HSE to be told that it is not its responsibility and that it is the responsibility of the contract holder to provide the service. I have tried to pursue it with the Department of Education and Skills which tells me it deals with children with disabilities, universal access for children to primary school and providing special needs assistant supports but that this is not its baby, to pardon the pun. In response to a parliamentary question on this issue, the Minister for Health said that "while the Health Service Executive has no statutory obligation to provide supports for children with special needs wishing to avail of the free pre-school year, it works at local level", blah, blah, blah, ad hocery.
He went on to discuss the need for a co-ordinated system.
If we are to achieve anything in this debate, I implore the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs to take a hold of the issue. Thousands of children and parents throughout the country are locked out of the early childhood care and education, ECCE, year. If we want a universal system, it must take account of such children and their needs. Like the Department of Education and Skills, the Minister should hold a little in reserve. We may not necessarily have the additional resources necessary, but she should hold a little in reserve and pay a higher capitation level to the individual contract holders under the ECCE scheme who will take on these children. They deserve the early childhood year as much as any other child. It is an indictment of us all that we could table a motion and an amendment and discuss universality while locking the door on these children. It is also an indictment of the HSE to claim that there is no obligation.
I congratulate the Minister. This is my first opportunity to discuss these issues since she became Minister. She has achieved much in a short time. I also acknowledge what has been achieved by others, but this is a glaring deficit. There is no universality if we lock the door on children with disabilities. I implore the Minister to take this issue on board.
In the short time available to me, it is important to acknowledge the new departure in recognising the youth sector and establishing a Department for youth affairs. I also acknowledge the Minister's passion and compassion for what is an important sector. These are reflected in the infrastructural spending of recent years, but we are playing catch-up. When I was a youth worker 15 years ago, I used to discuss the Swedish or Scandinavian model of early school intervention for children. While it is important that we acknowledge the work done to date, let us be honest - we have a long way to go. The Minister would be the first to say that it is a challenge she is willing to address head on.
This motion refers to access and costs. Leaving those challenges aside for a moment, it is important that we acknowledge the advocates, the people involved on a voluntary basis, the child care committees and the practitioners who are working hard at the coalface. Parents using preschool facilities are entrusting their three and four year olds to service providers in the knowledge that they are being looked after. We must reciprocate, in that we cannot take that resource for granted. We should do whatever we can to ensure a support network is in place for the personnel who are providing such an outstanding service and to provide them with retraining, reskilling and upskilling. Some networks are already enshrined, for example, primary and secondary school networks. There have been negative stories about preschool care recently, but it is also important to focus on the positive.
I will mention an issue with Ballaghderg. Deputy Creed referred to special needs in general, but there has been a great deal of conversation about mainstreaming children with severe disabilities at preschool level. We must consider whether pushing that agenda is reasonable and consult widely with the parents of children with severe disabilities in facilities such as the one at Ballaghderg.
I acknowledge the role played by the Minister and the outstanding intervention in the form of infrastructural investment. The challenges are obvious and we have a long way to go, but it is a different world than the one when I started school in the early 1970s. Preschool was my first day in national school and mainstream education. I do not remember it. Maybe it had an impact, and maybe going into mainstream education as a four year old did a lot of damage.
The Deputy has done all right all the same.
There is delight in the eyes of the three and four year olds who attend preschool. They are not just learning maths tables or how to write. They are also learning to play. This must be acknowledged.
As many points have been made, there is no point in recycling them. I welcome this debate. Both last night and tonight, it has been a good one. Despite the discussion in the past two years or so of the great pensions issue facing this generation, this is an even greater issue. To use that awful phrase, it will not go away. We have the largest young population and the highest birth rate of all EU countries. We cannot hide from this fact and must deal with it.
Progress and improvements have been made in the past ten years. People like the Minister and I can continue progressing it during the next decade. Deputy McHugh referred to the 1970s when child care was non-existent. We can advance the essential elements. For example, reference was made to the early years strategy. That can be developed. It is good that the sector will be reviewed, as we can learn from what has happened in the past ten years in particular. We can use other models. We are coming from quite a bit behind. Friends or relations living in northern Europe will explain that those countries have been doing this sort of work since the end of the Second World War. The sector is so advanced there. We are not completely out of the picture and have made improvements, but all sides recognise that we still have a distance to go.
Deputy Troy made a point about the high birth rate. Whatever happens in the future, I agree that there should be no barriers. If child care is to be available to everyone, it must also be available to those on the average wage. Many of us know families in those circumstances. If one or both parents are lucky enough to have jobs, it can still be quite a burden, which several Deputies pointed out last night and tonight. This factor must form part of our focus. Child care should be available for people with little disposable income, not just those with the wherewithal to pay any amount for child care. We should not miss this opportunity, as there is a barrier. How costly child care is must be acknowledged. There are different reasons for that, but I will not go into them now.
I will finish before the Ceann Comhairle asks me to.
The review is for all of us. One positive factor that I have acknowledged previously and that is a main focus of the Minister is the level of qualification of people working in child care. The Minister keeps referring to the FETAC level 5 award. It is important that those working in child care are adequately qualified and have a stake in the review.
Deputy Kitt is next and has five minutes. He is sharing his time with Deputies Ó Fearghaíl, Calleary and Moynihan.
I will start by commending Deputy Troy on tabling this motion. I concur with the Deputies who referred to the many fine Ministers that we have had since 2000 when the equal opportunities programme was introduced, up to and including the current Minister and her commitment. However, there is always a "but". Something that has always been said to us as public representatives is that major challenges lie ahead and that there is a low rate of child care provision.
I meet a group regularly. I am sure that many Deputies and Senators meet it every time there is a budget. I am referring to Early Childhood Ireland, which represents more than 80% of preschools and crèches.
The group has often raised the issue of the cost of child care, including prior to the last budget.
Deputy Troy proposed a direct payment to families related to the cost of child care, through the family income supplement scheme. I understand that 32,000 families currently receive this payment. It is important to widen the range of child care options that are available, particularly for low income working families, and to include the privately managed child care services, including registered child minders. Early Childhood Ireland refers to tax credits and some form of subsidy. If these issues are not addressed, the organisation states that we will see a greater number of children being cared for under private arrangements, where there are no regulations or inspections, or where there are no appropriately qualified staff, which perhaps is even more concerning.
We believe that the provision of child care and employment are interdependent, and there should be policies which act as an incentive for working parents to remain in or return to employment. This is also related to tackling the issue of child poverty. I commend the work done by Indecon consultants for Donegal County Childcare Committee, which examined the provision and affordability of child care in Ireland, in the context of labour market participation. The report stated that a quarter of Irish parents have been prevented from returning to employment or training due to prohibitive child care costs. The report also refers to the fact that parents in lower income groups are particularly badly hit by the recession; 56% of parents have been prevented from looking for a job due to child care costs. The figures show that child care costs are found to account for about 29% of net income for a couple, and almost 50% of net income for lone parents. The comparable figures in the EU are 9.8% and 9% respectively for couples and lone parents. Looking at those figures and the OECD figures, Ireland is the second most costly country for child care in net terms, as a percentage of wages. Child care costs can exceed mortgage payments as the largest monthly bill for families with young children. The financial pressure involved in child care means that thousands of working parents, particularly mothers, face a stark choice of quitting work due to the high cost of child care, or continuing their careers while losing money. We all know that many households have less money at this time.
There have been many positive developments in early childhood care and education, especially since 2000, when extra capacity was provided. I recall that €1 million was the standard provision for each child care centre. Between 2000 and 2007, some 40,000 child care places were provided under the equal opportunities child care programme. However, we are less advanced than our European counterparts in respect of investment and policy implementation for children under the statutory school age. For that reason, it is important to have increasing investment based on GDP over the next few years. The issue of relating funding to GDP has been very much a feature of other Departments. For example, the overseas aid budget at the Department of Foreign Affairs is related to GDP.
It is also important to have a policy on the inclusion of children with special educational needs in early childhood services. It is disappointing that there is a varying level of services across counties and regions. That should not be the case, because we got rid of the regional health boards and the HSE should have a national policy rather than discretion in local areas. I support what Deputy Troy has proposed here tonight.
I thank Deputy Kitt for sharing his time, and I compliment Deputy Troy on having tabled the motion. It is a very positive motion. The Deputy went out of his way to be positive in constructing it. I feel a little disappointed that the House could be dividing this evening on something that is important to all of us, because we united in going to the people in 2012 to convince them to support the children's rights referendum. It would be nice if we had been able to come here this evening, put aside our political differences and agree a motion that would give effect to the provision of resources and services that would enhance the lives of children all over the country.
Deputy Lawlor is a good friend of mine for many years, but I was disappointed to hear him make party political comments. I think he is wide of the mark. As someone who entered the Oireachtas in 2000, I am particularly proud that between 2000 and 2011, Fianna Fáil was in many respects pioneering in its approach to child care provision. In that period we had the various capital programmes and in excess of €400 million was invested in the provision of approximately 65,000 places. It did not satisfy everybody and it did not meet all the demands that existed, but it started a process that has borne real fruits and that has brought major benefits to many households and individuals throughout the country.
I have repeatedly said to my good friend, the former Deputy Barry Andrews, that introducing the free early childhood education scheme meant that he did something that was on a par with what had been done many decades ago by the late Donogh O'Malley, when he introduced free second level education. There is no doubt that at the core of the challenge which faces us all in the body politic is to build a better community and society and the earlier we intervene in support of young children, the better. In particular, the earlier we intervene in circumstances of disability and disadvantage, the better for all of us.
In the past week I attended two public meetings in my constituency. The first was with a group of parents of children on the autistic spectrum. I allude here to some extent to the points made by Deputy Creed. Listening to the stories of the parents involved, the child care they wanted was specialist care that would meet the needs of their children. They wanted the various therapies, such as speech and language therapy, but there was no consistency in availability. We are proud in Fianna Fáil that we appointed the first Minister of State with responsibility for child care. Fair play to this Government that we now have a full Minister at Cabinet, but there is much work to be done in ensuring that those children who are significantly disadvantaged can avail of uniform care across the country, as can their parents, who have to contend with the trials and tribulations of raising a child. One woman at that meeting had three children on the autistic spectrum, and I can only shudder to think at the challenges and responsibilities that she has every day. In order to get support from the system, she must battle every day, but it should not be like that. As Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, the Minister can do something about it.
A little later in the same week, I had the interesting experience, along with my party colleagues and Deputies Heydon and Deputy Wall, of meeting the Athy Travellers Club. They are a wonderful group of people who provide a community child care facility for the local Traveller community. The local Traveller community children are joined in the service by other marginalised groups in the local community in Athy.
It appears the capitation grant provided to the child care facility in question has been cut by the Department as part of a process administered by Pobal. The moneys available to the facility have declined from €70,000 in 2013 to €38,000 in 2014. If the Department proceeds with this cut, this Traveller child care facility will have to close down. I challenge the Minister to find in any community young people of similar age who are more marginalised than the children of members of the travelling community. If it comes to pass that this level of cut must be borne by the organisation in question, it will be utterly disgraceful. I ask the Minister to review the matter.
I do not know if this is an isolated case because I have in my possession a copy of a letter written to the Minister on 3 February by Early Childhood Ireland, an organisation representing 3,400 child care providers. The letter, which expresses serious concern about developments in child care provision, notes the following:
The sector has adapted and stepped up to meet each new legislative and policy requirement, but is now palpably frustrated due to the continuation of unresolved issues, some of which are set out below:
- Repeated delays and shortfall in payments (CCS), with significant discrepancies in expected levels of income
- Appeals for ECCE not being dealt with and members waiting for resolution of cases from last year
- Lack of timely notification of changes to schemes - changes are made to schemes without consultation or prior notice and new stipulations are continually added to contracts
- Higher capitation unresolved - people have recruited staff at Level 8 and are paying them higher salaries but no confirmation of higher capitation to services have been received.
Early childhood care providers are coming under severe pressure. While I am aware that the Department and child and family services are also under serious pressure, as are all Departments, we must prioritise. If we cannot prioritise children, in particular marginalised children, and choose instead to engage in rhetoric about the importance of breaking the cycle, the cost to society in terms of the lost potential of the children in question and the communities they will form will be much greater than the cost of investing in breaking the cycle. The Minister must address these issues.
There is not a Member of the House who does not wish the Minister well and hope that she, more than most other Ministers, succeeds admirably in her Department. There must be fair play, however, for those who are disadvantaged and marginalised. If they do not experience early intervention, as appears to be the case in some areas, the Minister will have failed the challenge facing her. That is an accusation I do not wish to level when her term in office concludes.
I thank Deputy Robert Troy for allowing the House to discuss child care issues in Private Members' business. Given that we share common aims, it is regrettable that the Government is seeking to divide the House on the motion before us and chose not to engage with us to try to agree a wording that could have brought all sides in the House together.
I welcome the Minister's appointment. It was an historic departure, and she has performed well in the past three years. She was, however, preceded in office by a number of strong individuals. I have in mind our late colleague, Mr. Brian Lenihan, Deputy Brendan Smith, Ms Mary Hanafin and Mr. Barry Andrews, all of whom struggled, as junior Ministers, with very difficult challenges in the children's brief. For example, they had to deal with legacy issues such as the abuse of children and all the issues associated with that aspect of our past. They also established capital infrastructure and a nationwide network of community child care facilities and introduced the standards under which public and private child care providers must operate. All of this was achieved by previous Ministers with the support of previous Governments. It is regrettable, therefore, that some Government Deputies sought to make a political football of this issue. Major achievements were secured before the current Minister had the fortune to be appointed to Cabinet.
The challenge the Minister faces is that other Departments now believe they no longer have responsibility for children. Children are the responsibility of all Departments and, given the consequences actions in this area can have, this responsibility cannot be delegated solely to the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. Every Minister must play a role and every Government decision must be child-proofed.
Deputy Troy, in this motion and a number of policy documents, proposes a number of responses to critical issues facing many people. As we progress towards some semblance of economic recovery, the biggest issue we face is the creation of employment. We must review every potential employment trap, including in the area of child care. For many families, the cost of private child care, particularly in Dublin, is higher than their mortgage payments. Providing basic care for their children puts many parents to the pin of their collar. They are not seeking services with bells and whistles on or, to borrow a phrase from the Minister for Finance, gold-plated child care provision. The cost of basic child care services is such that both parents must work to pay for it. This leaves many parents facing the decision not to work because they cannot afford child care. The financial consequences of paying for child care has resulted in many parents choosing not to work. This issue must be addressed.
It is fine for the Taoiseach and spokespersons of IBEC to parade around speaking of tax cuts. They should first address the anomaly in the system that means many parents are better off staying at home than choosing to return to work. Deputy Troy's proposal to introduce a tax break for working families, specifically for those whose income is marginally above the family income supplement threshold, should be considered before tax cuts are introduced. The level of support proposed - 40% of child care costs - is targeted and would benefit approximately 5,200 children. It would give people an opportunity, if they so wished, to participate in the economic recovery and use their skills. People should not be forced to stay at home because of the costs of child care.
Research carried out by Indecon in a rural and an urban area shows that the costs of child care are escalating. Indecon also carried out a cost-benefit analysis of the targeted tax incentive proposed by Deputy Troy. It found that the measure would have a positive economic benefit, with society securing economic gains of €1.17 for every €1 cost incurred. While not everything should be viewed from a purely economic perspective, it is important to show the incentive would have an economic return. Having people involved in a working environment would also deliver a social return. In that sense, everyone is a winner.
As Deputy Ó Fearghaíl noted, early child care services are failing children with special needs. Deputy Colm Keaveney discovered last week through a parliamentary question that we do not have early intervention teams. As the cases highlighted by Deputy Ó Fearghaíl demonstrated, securing services for children with special needs is a nightmare and a daily struggle for parents. All Deputies are fighting to get medical cards for children with Down's syndrome and basic disabilities. The Minister should fight for this type of basic service for children. Regardless of which party is in government, the system opposes this type of early intervention.
The system is so determined to fight parents who have a child with special needs that it forgets its purpose is to serve them. In terms of child care, we need to focus on the reason in 2014 we continue to make children with special needs fight for everything they get. It is beyond me. If at the end of her term in office the Minister has managed to put manners on that part of the system which sees its job as fighting children that will be one hell of an achievement. Given that her term will, possibly, expire in 2016 she could be the one Minister who has lived up to the terms of the Proclamation. Surely, that is not too much to ask for. We have put in place a massive infrastructure countrywide and a huge legislative infrastructure behind it. We have also put in place all sorts of standards and regulations yet the same system that trumpets and enforces these standards is determined to fight parents. This must stop if we are to believe in everything we are putting in place.
There are many heroes in the child care sector. There are communities countrywide which have come together to meet needs in rural areas. While there were grants available, grants are no good without people willing to take on the job that goes with administering them. Our county child care committees are a fantastic example of how local government can work well with local community interests in providing services. Many of the private operators who got into this area did so when it was very much white territory and there were no standards or provisions around it. Some 90% of them provide a great service to this day. All of them have been let down by the revelations in recent years. That, too, must stop. Until we reach the stage of being a country where every child is treated equally and where every Department and not only one ministry has responsibility for children the notion of having a Minister with responsibility for children will be eroded, as will the achievements of the current Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, in that role.
The children's referendum, which arose in the context of our poor and appalling history of child care in this country, was almost defeated. We appear still to be pushing against a considerable body of opposition to progressing children's law. We must work on those issues in respect of which we can be of assistance. What Deputy Troy has proposed in the motion in terms of tax breaks, direct payments and a range of issues around parental leave brings this to the next level and puts meat onto the ministry. I hope that at the end of the term of office of this first Minister for Children - hopefully there will be more to follow - it will be possible to point to all that has been achieved and to say that we have made a difference to the lives of children. Building on the achievements of her predecessors, this is the chance for the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, to leave her mark. Deputy Troy has put forward some very good suggestions. I regret the Government proposes to divide the House on this first occasion in three years when child care matters have been raised during Private Members' business. It is unfortunate given the spirit of the motion and the support therein for the Minister's office and the Minister.
I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate and compliment Deputy Troy on bringing before the House this worthy motion on child care issues. Colleagues on both sides of the House have spoken about special needs and early intervention provision. Access to speech and language therapy, early intervention and other services are major issues for people. This will affect children in the long term. The withdrawal of these services is also shortsightedness on the part of the State in that it will result in a greater cost to the State in the longer term.
We should in the context of this debate be seeking to honour the Constitution and, in particular, children with special needs. Colleagues have spoken about the contributions of various Ministers over the past 14 years in relation to children. Much good work has been and is being done throughout the country, particularly by the community not-for-profit child care facilities constructed under the aegis of the Department of Justice and Equality but which come within the remit of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. The voluntary bodies which put in place these facilities countrywide should be applauded.
I would like to draw a particular concern I have to the Minister's attention. The community not-for-profit organisations are providing a service on behalf of the State. Given the manner in which many of the community projects were established, almost all of them attract charitable status. However, owing to a glitch in the Valuation Act some of them are exempted from rates and others are not. This issue needs to be addressed. Two community projects of which I am aware are being hounded by the county councils and threatened with court cases and so on in respect of €25,000 or €30,000 in rates that have accumulated on their premises. As I stated earlier, these are not-for-profit organisations that are providing community services for hard pressed parents and are facilitating the State's free preschool year. This matter needs to be addressed in a pragmatic way, with perhaps an amendment in this regard being made to the Valuation Act to ensure these facilities are exempted from rates. The attitude of the courts and local authorities in pursuing these bodies leaves a lot to be desired. The fundamental issue is that despite these organisations being granted charitable status by the Revenue Commissioners and regulatory authorities based on the memorandum of understandings under which they were established, they are being pursued for rates. This issue needs to be addressed.
The two issues of concern for me are the rates issue, which is a major issue for communities and must be addressed, and the provision of early intervention for children with special needs. Some of the children who were part of the early intervention programme established in Cork in 1998-99 through the CABAS project went on to mainstream primary and second level schools and completed their leaving certificates. This would not have been possible but for the CABAS project and the valuable contributions of former Ministers, the late Brian Lenihan, Mary Hanafin, Barry Andrews and Brendan Smith. A whole raft of issues were dealt with by them including child care costs and so on, following which the county child care committees were established.
It is important the Valuation Act is amended to provide for an exemption from rates for the community not-for-profit child care facilities. We must also ensure that children who need early intervention can access it at the earliest possible time and that they do not have to be corresponding with public representatives or the ombudsman in respect of their entitlements.
I thank everybody who contributed to this debate over the past couple of hours. The quality of the contributions leaves us in no doubt as to how deeply this issue resonates within all of us. There appears to be general consensus as to the kind of quality child care services we want to see in place.
We all know the destination we want to reach. Where we differ is the journey we must embark upon to reach it. Deputy Calleary remarked that this is the first time we have debated this issue in the House since the formation of the new Government. Equally, it is the first time that any Member has had the opportunity to address the issue to a Cabinet member. The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs has been appointed to the role to work tirelessly and vigorously to further this particular agenda in Government. In her opening remarks, the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, detailed the many actions that the Government has taken in respect of early childhood care and education. Despite the difficult economic situation the Government faced on coming into office, the universal preschool year has been maintained and the child care schemes targeted at low income parents have been expanded. This has been a significant achievement and one of which we are rightly proud.
More important, budget 2014 included funding for several quality measures to further support the early years sector. The focus of this motion and of some of the contributions of speakers has been on parents and costs. However, it is essential to remember that the primary focus of early childhood provision should be the children. All the available evidence indicates that it is the quality of the child care provision which is the key to good outcomes for children, whether it is delivered by service providers or parents. For far too long the focus of child care policy was on bricks and mortar and the physical environment in which children are cared for. Members will be aware that up to the start of the last decade, Ireland's early years sector was almost non-existent. The Celtic tiger years saw a scramble to put services in place in response to the ever-increasing rate of female participation in the labour market and a corresponding demand for child care service provision. Unfortunately, this resulted in a wholly inadequate approach to quality and sustainability. In response to the issue, the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, announced a quality agenda for early years services which sets out several key reforms with the objective of improving the quality of early childhood care and education services.
Legislative amendments to Part VII of the Child Care Act 1991 have been passed by the Oireachtas as part of the Child and Family Agency Act 2013, and this will underpin broader reforms. The objectives are to strengthen the current inspection regime, provide a statutory basis for registration of early years services and provide for the setting of minimum qualification standards for staff working directly with children in these services. To provide for the implementation of the changes to the Act, it will be necessary to amend or make additions to the current regulations in several areas, and this is being considered.
The new regulations will be accompanied by new national quality standards, and together they will form the basis against which services will be inspected by the early years inspectorate of the Child and Family Agency. The standards will set out the outcomes for quality as well as supporting criteria against which the compliance level of a service will be measured. Inspection under the new regulations and standards will commence as early as practicable following the development of new inspection tools and guidelines. In advance of the introduction of the new regulations, a communications exercise will be undertaken to ensure early years service providers fully understand the impact of the changes to the way they will be inspected.
A new system of registration has been introduced, and anyone proposing to open a new child care service must first be registered with the early years inspectorate before they begin to operate. The registration and inspection system will allow inspectors to specify improvement conditions with which a service must comply. This system will provide for the first time for timely and effective regulation and enforcement of standards in early years services. Information relating to the inspection and registration system is available on the Child and Family Agency website, www.tusla.ie.
International evidence shows a clear connection between the qualifications of staff working with children and the quality of their care and educational provision. Up to now there has been a cultural view in Ireland that looking after children does not require any particular skill set. We must move away from this idea and understand that, as with older children, young children need to have trained and qualified staff working with them.
For this reason the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, has indicated her intention to introduce a new requirement that all staff caring for children in an early years service hold a minimum qualification at Further Education and Training Awards Council level 5. In addition, the minimum requirement of FETAC level 5 currently in place for preschool leaders delivering the preschool year programme will be increased to level 6. The new requirements will apply from September 2014 for new services and from September 2015 for existing services. To support existing staff to obtain the necessary qualifications, the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, has said she expects to announce shortly the details of a new subsidised training programme, and funding of €3 million is being allocated to support this initiative.
As the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, has announced-----
I apologise to the Minister of State but he is over time, we have 15 minutes to go, and I am obliged to call the next speaker, who is Deputy Charlie McConalogue.
I join my colleagues and many Deputies, including the Minister, in commending Deputy Troy, our party spokesperson on children and youth affairs, on tabling this motion before the House in a non-confrontational way. He has put together a motion that deals with the issue and that puts forward proposals such that we can come together from all sides of the House to debate rationally the issue in a context that is not politically charged, as is so often the case during Private Members' business. This is simply giving the appropriate due regard to an important sector, the early childhood sector, and an important issue, that is, how we support parents, especially working parents, to care for their children while continuing their careers.
Deputy Troy put forward many worthy proposals in the document which underpins the Private Members' motion. He offered suggestions, including tax breaks and direct payments to assist working parents. His proposals could operate either through the family income supplement or other direct payments and could subsidise the cost of child care. He also offered sensible and worthy suggestions in respect of parental leave and how to progress the associated entitlements of parents in the coming years over a particular timescale.
We have come a long way in childhood care in past ten or 15 years but there is a significant road to travel and we have only partially got to grips with many of the issues that arise. Deputy Calleary outlined the work of several Fianna Fáil Ministers of State who took responsibility for children's affairs and who paved the way in terms of grappling with many of the key issues which, unfortunately, were ignored for too many years. Our late colleague, Brian Lenihan, was the first Minister for children to be elevated to sit at the Cabinet table, albeit as a Minister of State. The appointment and elevation of the Minister, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, to a full Cabinet post is a welcome development of that progression.
We should acknowledge, however, that having a Minister is not the key thing, rather it is what is happening and how we are developing and progressing. In this regard I believe we need to see far more initiative, especially in respect of the topic which Deputy Troy is trying to address in his suggestions, that is, how to support working parents. The Minister recently launched a research policy document by Indecon which was initiated with the Donegal County Childcare Committee. The document provided much valuable base research in terms of where the difficulties many parents face arise. The document indicated that the current cost of child care is, on average, €915 per month. Over a ten month period that amounts to €9,150 and for two children the total is €16,470. That alone is enough to indicate the barriers and difficulties of having young children, whether as part of a two parent family in which both parents are working or more so for a one parent family. The figures show a lone parent would have to give up 45% of her annual wage to cover the cost of child care for one child. It is little wonder there are many who find it difficult to enter the workforce. We do not have any real way of supporting them or of making it a real prospect for them to get back into or to continue in the workforce, especially those on average or low wages.
I wish to touch briefly on the issue of special needs and the need for clear guidelines and a clear inclusion policy at preschool level to accommodate special needs.
Our early childhood sector and the free preschool year, for example, are not much older than many of the children who are currently participating in them. The sector is developing and trying to find its feet. However, an area we have not placed much focus on to date is special needs. Over the next two years, I ask the Minister to ensure supports are provided in this area.
I thank colleagues from all parties and none for contributing to this important debate on an issue facing many families across the country. Thankfully, the majority of Members embraced the motion in the spirit in which it was intended - a non-partisan, Private Members' motion. It was framed in a constructive manner with suggestions I hoped the Government would consider to help struggling families with exorbitant child care costs. Had I been contacted by the Minister, I would have happily amended the motion to ensure unanimous support in the House.
However, she sought the opportunity to portray herself as the most reforming Minister who had to deal with a legacy of total and utter neglect. The truth is that almost a decade ago this sector was in its infancy. Changes in work patterns and people's attitudes resulted in the sector expanding rapidly. As I outlined last night, there was significant investment in physical infrastructure but there were also many positive policy developments such as Síolta, Aistear and the workforce development plan, which the Government continues to implement and to which the Minister alluded in her contribution. Previous Governments used the introduction of free preschool year as a mechanism to introduce minimum qualification standards. Regulation 5 was introduced to ensure that when preschools were inspected, it was not only about physical and environmental issues examined but also the welfare of educational outcomes of the child.
The motion is constructive and in no way antagonistic or condemning of Government policy. For all the Government's talk of prioritising early childhood care and education, this is the first substantive debate on the issue in the House during its tenure. Fianna Fáil had to use its Private Members' time to ensure this happened.
I agree that, despite the advances and improvements made in the previous decade in a rapidly evolving sector, more needs to be done. Nothing stands still; we continually need to make improvements to ensure not only that we have a fully functional early child care sector, but also that we can aspire to have the best because our children who are future entrepreneurs, business people and professionals deserve it. I willingly acknowledge the Government continues to make reforms and changes, which, when implemented, will improve this sector. The Minister did not acknowledge last night, however, that these reforms received the full support of the Opposition. Despite support from the Opposition and a new fully staffed and dedicated Department, these reforms have been immensely slow.
Last year during Question Time, I highlighted to the Minister the need to address quality issues prior to the introduction of a second free preschool year and I said that the success of a free preschool year could not be measured on participation rates alone. It was not until the "Prime Time" exposé, "A Breach of Trust", that the Minister's attention turned towards quality and she then published the eight-point plan. Responsibility for early childhood care and education remains spread across many Departments and agencies and the Minister plans to introduce another agency in form of a national quality service under Pobal. This will lead to further fragmentation, to which Deputy Creed alluded earlier. Existing local and regional structures with a proven track record in delivering national programmes on behalf of the Department are being overlooked. The "Prime Time" exposé last April identified a number of geographical areas in which there was no inspector. Only last night the Minister confirmed that every region still does not have a full-time inspector. Despite unanimous support in the child care sector for new inspectors to hold specific professional early years education qualifications, the Minister continues to hire public health nurses. Almost 50,000 children are looked after by 19,000 paid child minders in the unregulated child care sector. It is regrettable that the Minister did not make amendments to the child care protection legislation in 2012 to address this aspect.
With regard to upskilling and professionalisation, the Minister has reduced capitation grants to service providers and increased the adult to child ratio, which has resulted in making the sector less attractive. I acknowledge that she introduced a training fund last year through which €900,000 was provided in 2013 and €1.5 million is available this year. However, the fund is restrictive and it does not take an holistic approach to the needs of service providers. Does the Minister think this is good value for money when one person working on the free preschool year must hold a FETAC level 6 qualification? There is no qualification requirement for under threes or for any other Government funded programme.
Last night, the Minister said we would witness publication of the first national early years strategy this year. I hope so because this was promised in 2012 and 2013. While I welcome the wide ranging and comprehensive recommendations, it has not gone unnoticed that a number of key areas are missing from the report of the expert advisory group on early years, not least strategic policy on children with special needs and on addressing the cost of child care in Ireland. This cost is the second highest in the OECD at €16,500 for a family with two children. Last night, the Minister referred to the Government maintaining direct payments to families. However, it cut child benefit, a direct payment, in two successive budgets. This payment is key to helping people with child care costs. In the most recent budget, the Government reduced maternity benefit, one week after publishing a report it commissioned, which recommended increasing this benefit from six to 12 months. The Minister said at the time she was in favour of this proposal. Despite the promise made by the Minister for Social Protection in the House in April 2012 not to cut payments to lone parents when their children reached seven years of age until affordable, accessible child care was in place, this has not happened.
I brought forward evidence-based proposals which are the subject of an international Indecon report in the hope that, at a minimum, the Minister would make a commitment to explore in detail how the Government and the Dáil could collectively pursue policies that would positively help families with their child care costs. I did so in a constructive, non-partisan manner and it is regrettable that on an issue that has such priority among the Government parties, the Minister was the only contributor to the debate from that side last night. Normally, during Private Members' business, significant numbers of Government Members offer to speak on important motions
I believe that through its effectiveness in prevention and early intervention, quality early childhood care and education has the potential to transform children's life chances and reduce future social expenditure by the State. Recent revelations about standards in child care lead us to ask not whether we can afford to invest in early childhood care and education, but rather if we can afford not to.
Amendment put:
The Dáil divided: Tá, 81; Níl, 45.
Tá
- Bannon, James.
- Barry, Tom.
- Breen, Pat.
- Burton, Joan.
- Butler, Ray.
- Buttimer, Jerry.
- Byrne, Catherine.
- Byrne, Eric.
- Carey, Joe.
- Coffey, Paudie.
- Collins, Áine.
- Conaghan, Michael.
- Conlan, Seán.
- Connaughton, Paul J.
- Conway, Ciara.
- Coonan, Noel.
- Corcoran Kennedy, Marcella.
- Coveney, Simon.
- Creed, Michael.
- Daly, Jim.
- Deenihan, Jimmy.
- Deering, Pat.
- Donohoe, Paschal.
- Dowds, Robert.
- Doyle, Andrew.
- Durkan, Bernard J.
- English, Damien.
- Feighan, Frank.
- Ferris, Anne.
- Fitzgerald, Frances.
- Fitzpatrick, Peter.
- Flanagan, Charles.
- Griffin, Brendan.
- Hannigan, Dominic.
- Harrington, Noel.
- Harris, Simon.
- Hayes, Brian.
- Hayes, Tom.
- Heydon, Martin.
- Hogan, Phil.
- Humphreys, Kevin.
- Keating, Derek.
- Kehoe, Paul.
- Kelly, Alan.
- Kenny, Seán.
- Kyne, Seán.
- Lawlor, Anthony.
- Lynch, Ciarán.
- Lynch, Kathleen.
- Lyons, John.
- McCarthy, Michael.
- McGinley, Dinny.
- McHugh, Joe.
- McLoughlin, Tony.
- McNamara, Michael.
- Maloney, Eamonn.
- Mitchell, Olivia.
- Mitchell O'Connor, Mary.
- Mulherin, Michelle.
- Murphy, Dara.
- Murphy, Eoghan.
- Nash, Gerald.
- Neville, Dan.
- Nolan, Derek.
- Noonan, Michael.
- O'Donnell, Kieran.
- O'Donovan, Patrick.
- O'Dowd, Fergus.
- O'Mahony, John.
- O'Sullivan, Jan.
- Perry, John.
- Phelan, Ann.
- Phelan, John Paul.
- Reilly, James.
- Ring, Michael.
- Ryan, Brendan.
- Stagg, Emmet.
- Stanton, David.
- Twomey, Liam.
- Walsh, Brian.
- White, Alex.
Níl
- Boyd Barrett, Richard.
- Broughan, Thomas P.
- Browne, John.
- Calleary, Dara.
- Collins, Joan.
- Collins, Niall.
- Colreavy, Michael.
- Cowen, Barry.
- Crowe, Seán.
- Daly, Clare.
- Doherty, Pearse.
- Ellis, Dessie.
- Ferris, Martin.
- Flanagan, Luke 'Ming'.
- Fleming, Sean.
- Fleming, Tom.
- Halligan, John.
- Healy-Rae, Michael.
- Kelleher, Billy.
- Kitt, Michael P.
- Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
- McConalogue, Charlie.
- McDonald, Mary Lou.
- McGrath, Mattie.
- McGrath, Michael.
- McGuinness, John.
- McLellan, Sandra.
- Martin, Micheál.
- Mathews, Peter.
- Moynihan, Michael.
- Murphy, Catherine.
- Nulty, Patrick.
- Ó Caoláin, Caoimhghín.
- Ó Cuív, Éamon.
- Ó Fearghaíl, Seán.
- Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
- O'Sullivan, Maureen.
- Pringle, Thomas.
- Ross, Shane.
- Shortall, Róisín.
- Smith, Brendan.
- Stanley, Brian.
- Tóibín, Peadar.
- Troy, Robert.
- Wallace, Mick.
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Emmet Stagg and Paul Kehoe; Níl, Deputies Michael Moynihan and Seán Ó Fearghaíl.
Amendment declared carried.
Motion, as amended, put and declared carried.
The Dáil adjourned at 9.15 p.m. until 9.30 a.m. on Thursday, 13 February 2014.
