Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration & Youth publishes its Report on the challenges facing the Early Childhood Care and Education Sector

Speaking on the report, Deputy Kathleen Funchion, Cathaoirleach of the Committee said “We are at a point in time when there is unanimous acknowledgement of the value of positive early interventions in children’s lives. Investment in children’s early years is the greatest leveller in terms of delivering positive outcomes. The starting point for addressing these issues is now children’s rights, which is a marked improvement on former attitudes towards Early Childhood Care and Education as a ‘women’s issue’ or a labour activation tool.”

The Cathaoirleach said “Over recent years, a suite of reforms and initiatives to improve the quality, affordability and availability of early childhood care and education have been introduced. This has included measures such as changes to funding streams, safeguarding, reporting and inspections, as well as targeted initiatives aimed at supporting children with disabilities or those experiencing marginalisation or disadvantage.”

There is still a way to go, in establishing ECCE as an inalienable right, akin to primary and secondary education. Stakeholders flagged insufficient investment, fee freezes, low wages, recruitment and retention issues and poor long-term planning as among the challenges currently facing the sector. As such, some of the Committee’s main recommendations include that:

·       The Government should publish a five-year plan for implementing additional investment in early years and school age care to reach €4 billion, which is approximately 1% of GDP, by early 2029, and for implementing the Partnership for the Public Good report’s better data recommendations.

·       The trend whereby ECCE rooms and staff are being diverted to primary schools should be investigated, mitigated and planned for.

·       The administrative burden and duplicity of reporting requirements for operators must be addressed, inspections streamlined and made consistent, and an effective appeals mechanism made available where this does not occur.

·       The transition to a single agency for early years and school age children should be progressed as a priority.

·       An improved employment regulation order should be delivered urgently to address low pay and additional funding should be invested to help providers who need assistance to meet it.

·       A response team should be established to forecast potential closures of ECCE settings, prevent them where possible, and manage setting closures, when they are unavoidable, in line with children’s best interests.

·       The Department should carry out or commission research on the impacts, benefits and disadvantages of Government paying ECCE staff, as is the case with primary and secondary education. This research should examine how moving towards actual public provision of ECCE, as opposed to public funding and management of a mainly commercial system, might work to the benefit and/or detriment of children, parents, workers and the economy.

Read the Full Report

Read more about the work carried out by The Joint Committee on Children,Equality, Disability, Integration & Youth