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Opinion This government needs to prioritise childcare after a decade of underfunding

Early Childhood Ireland’s Frances Byrne says years of inadequate funding have crippled our childcare system.

FOR TOO LONG, families in Ireland have waited for the quality childcare system we deserve

All eyes will be on the Ministers for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform when they announce Budget 2022 on 12 October. After a decade of chronic underfunding for the childcare sector, surely this must be the date when families with young children finally get good news.

Childcare was a huge and immediate focus of political and public attention when the pandemic hit last year. But it was barely a footnote in the Budget 2021 announcement with no increase in funding despite the pandemic having shown just how essential our sector is.

The previous Government increased funding in childcare by more than 100%. Despite this, Ireland remains at the bottom of the OECD table for public investment in early years and school-age childcare.

Decades of underfunding have meant parents, providers and staff have been left to step up and fill the gaps because successive governments have failed to do so. We have the highest childcare fees from parents’ take-home pay in the European Union.

Meanwhile, average pay and conditions of employment in the sector are poor, leading to serious challenges in staff recruitment and retention. Providers operate precariously in a highly complex funding system that does not put the needs of families at its centre.

Pandemic focus

All of this was brought into sharp focus by Covid-19. For years, Early Childhood Ireland had been told by the Government that it was impossible to pay wages in the sector.

But, faced with unprecedented challenges, the government implemented a reliable bespoke Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme for childcare settings, which to date is covering up to 80% of wages.

This has been a lifeline for our members, allowing them to retain staff and put in place proper public health requirements. It has also been a lifeline for families, and the economy, as our sector, unlike any other part of the education system, was able to safely reopen and has remained open, since June 2020.

Perhaps most critically, the security of the wage scheme has enabled many providers to invest in measures that have improved quality, ensuring better experiences for children during this terrible global crisis.

Having properly qualified and appropriately compensated staff is a critical marker of a high-quality care and education system. In other countries, paying wages is simply part of the system. And in the much-lauded Nordic countries, staff have terms and conditions similar to school teachers.

Good intentions

The Government here knows this – the challenges which the childcare sector has faced for years are not unprecedented. That is why they have a national strategy, First 5, which commits to a graduate-led workforce by 2028 and to at least doubling investment in childcare by the same year.

But the truth is, none of us can afford to wait as providers’ costs soar, parental fees increase and, with wages and working conditions stagnated, staff continue to seek out better opportunities in other sectors. Unless the commitments outlined in First 5 are urgently prioritised, Ireland will continue to remain bottom of the class and our children will suffer.

Today, anyone planning a family has very limited certainty about what lies between birth and primary school. There is welcome, if long overdue, increased maternity leave and paternity leave during the first year of a child’s life, but without complementary supports from employers, dads, in particular, may be reluctant to avail of it.

New parents cannot afford a drop in income, during what is the most expensive time for any family. When it comes to childcare, the demand for places can see parents joining a waiting list before they’ve even settled on a name for their child.

When school begins, limited choices continue for many in terms of after-school provision and childminders. Omitting the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) scheme (which offers free, part-time childcare for children approaching their third birthday), fees for childcare vary hugely depending on where families live.

Irish parents deserve certainty, particularly as we face more permanent remote or hybrid working patterns. Childcare providers want to support families, but the current funding model relies so greatly on attendance patterns that they cannot afford to offer the flexibility that our European neighbours can.

More importantly, children deserve high-quality early years and school-age care, whether that is provided in childcare settings or childminders’ homes. This is a fundamental public good in any decent society and it has been lacking in Ireland for too long.

Processes have been put in place, promises have been made, drastic measures have been taken to keep the sector from buckling under the initial pressures of Covid-19, and providers have risen to meet every challenge.

Now, it is time for our political leaders to act. Budget 2022 must include a plan for a fit-for-purpose childcare system that makes high quality, affordable and publicly funded childcare accessible for all. Irish families have waited long enough.

Frances Byrne, the Director of Policy and Advocacy for Early Childhood Ireland, the leading organisation in the childcare sector.

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    Mute George Weener
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    Feb 24th 2019, 1:44 PM

    Every ones knows at this stage if they have a second referendum they will vote to remain… So why the hell not vote again and we can all forget about this mess

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    Mute IP.Man
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    Feb 24th 2019, 1:52 PM

    @George Weener: too proud they rather destroy the future of their children.

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    Mute Rochelle
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    Feb 24th 2019, 2:03 PM

    @George Weener: That would take the political will for politicians to put the country ahead of themselves. Ultimately even in a 2nd referendum there would still be 40-45% supporting Brexit despite knowing the consequences and they’ll wipe out any local representatives seen to not be enforcing their democratic vote.

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    Mute Patrick Nolan
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    Feb 24th 2019, 2:10 PM

    @George Weener:
    For the last two years I have supported a new referendum but what would it solve?
    Even if they voted remain there is more than enough brexiteers to ensure this issue would be back again and again until they get out. At this stage I think Ireland and the EU would be better off to just Lance the boil and deal with once and for all.

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    Mute Trish Boland
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    Feb 24th 2019, 3:28 PM

    @George Weener:
    Because they don’t do repeat referendums there – a decision was made in 2016 and that’s it.
    In any event, even if there is a delay to Brexit, it will only be for 3 months at the most, due to the European Parliamentary elections in May. I don’t think the EU would give an extension longer than June 30th – the new Parliament meets July 2nd.
    A referendum over there takes a bare minimum of 5 months to organise, if not longer.

    No, in the end I reckon May’s detail, with a protocol on the backstop will get through the Commons, albeit narrowly and they will leave in a smooth orderly manner.

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    Mute Niall
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    Feb 24th 2019, 4:00 PM

    @George Weener: oh I would not be sure it’s a slam dunk

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    Mute Jason Healy
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    Feb 24th 2019, 4:20 PM

    @Trish Boland: that’s assuming the eu give in and throw Ireland under the bus which would send every other small country in Europe into a panic. Can’t see it happening tbh. Teresa may is running down the clock Hoping mps will panic and vote for her deal. If they don’t the blame will be thrown squarely at Ireland and the eu for being intransigent and not bowing to the empire. Sad times.

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    Mute Robert Preston
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    Feb 24th 2019, 9:37 PM

    @George Weener: No no ones know what way the vote would go The uk aint ireland vote and vote until the people in charge politicians get the result they want

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    Mute その男、凶暴につき
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    Feb 24th 2019, 2:20 PM

    I predicted after Chequers, and have consistently predicted since, that there would be a no deal Brexit.

    The UK is suffering from mass delusions and they’d rather crash out than acknowledge reality. That was true almost seven years ago, when Cameron gave his Bloomberg speech, and its been true every minute since.

    They won’t admit they’ve all been selling and believing a lie. Instead they’ll crash out and blame the EU.

    Sad to see the UK destroy itself but also utterly predictable.

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    Mute Martin Critten
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    Feb 24th 2019, 6:46 PM

    @その男、凶暴につき: : the lie has been the slow erosion of democracy and the subversion of treaties supporting a structure of Executive rule. Something the UK had fought from Monarchy to the Vatican. Yet throw money at politicians and communities for decades the EU has all the echoes of buying its citizenry. The EU is a busted flush, nothing like the EEC we were sold in the beginning. The 20′s will show the flaws in even greater detail (that is if the media here would debate it) .

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    Mute Kevin Barry
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    Feb 24th 2019, 6:54 PM

    @Martin Critten: The EU is a co-op of nations ruled by consent. The Brits are butt hurt because they cannot control it. Good riddance.

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    Mute Paul O Mahoney
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    Feb 24th 2019, 1:56 PM

    Jesus, this is becoming tedious.

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    Mute Billy McNamara
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    Feb 24th 2019, 5:02 PM

    @Paul O Mahoney: No.Becoming very serious for us.

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    Mute Nomis Andrews
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    Feb 24th 2019, 2:17 PM

    Theresa May was a Remainer. She voted and campaigned for Remain in the Referendum. She is still a Remainer and by delaying the meaningful vote till March 12, she knows that Parliament will vote not to allow ‘No Deal’ and Brexit will be hijacked and never happen. That’s secretly what she wants to happen.

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    Mute Sega Yolo
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    Feb 24th 2019, 3:13 PM

    @Nomis Andrews: had been thinking that for a while, but now it looks like shes actually going for the crashout and hoping that anti eu sentiment saves her party.

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    Mute Trish Boland
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    Feb 24th 2019, 3:33 PM

    @Nomis Andrews:
    No I reckon her own deal with a protocol on the backstop will get through in the end.
    There’ll be no other option at that point – too late in the game for another referendum and the no deal option ruled out.

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    Mute Niall
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    Feb 24th 2019, 4:00 PM

    @Nomis Andrews: I didn’t realise she was a remainder – good to know; thanks

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    Mute Dermot Killian
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    Feb 24th 2019, 4:36 PM

    @Sega Yolo: Are you so sure that the EU as a construct will be successful? Does the UK see the writing on the wall and want to crash out early to their advantage? Nobody can predict the future with certainty either you or I. Perhaps broadening one’s options might be wiser. The EU’s growth rate underwhelms me. Beware of its dissolution.

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    Mute Billy McNamara
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    Feb 24th 2019, 5:04 PM

    @Nomis Andrews: Go Theresa.There’s method to your madness.She’s playing a great game.

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    Mute Kevin Barry
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    Feb 24th 2019, 6:51 PM

    @Dermot Killian: Typical British response. What are the signs of the EU dissolving.

    Don’t say the yellow vest protests in France, manning the barricades in a French hobby.

    Don’t say Italy is going bankrupt, Italy has been a basket case sense 1945.

    Don’t say Poland is on the way out, PiS will be gone in next years elections.

    With Brexit out of the way, Hungry will probably be suspended and it would be no loss to the EU if they left.

    Please tell me how a country who are dropping all their trade deals in one go are going to thrive ?

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    Mute Robert Preston
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    Feb 24th 2019, 9:41 PM

    @Kevin Barry: Jaysusbarry what an angryold man you are

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    Mute J. Reid
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    Feb 24th 2019, 1:59 PM

    There will be a Brexit on World Trade Organisation terms (what the media simplistically calls a “no-deal Brexit”). And both the British and Irish Governments are prepared for this by now, as are most of the rest of the nations of the EU.

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    Mute Terry Lamb
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    Feb 24th 2019, 3:22 PM

    @J. Reid: here here. WTO rules are absolutely fine. Necessity is the mother of all invention.

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    Mute Jason Healy
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    Feb 24th 2019, 4:25 PM

    @J. Reid: the UK is far from being prepared. They are only working on the motorway leading to Dover at the moment. Still no extra customs or extra parking for trucks to complete customs. Their clearing system will crash on the first day. They were warned about this and were creating a new system but won’t be ready until 2025 at least which will have the scope to handle only 40% max.

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    Mute Martin Critten
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    Feb 24th 2019, 6:48 PM

    @Jason Healy: by a stroke of a pen, a little thing called a bi laterial agreement will time line a period of ajustment. And lo all will be grand.

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    Mute Jason Healy
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    Feb 24th 2019, 8:13 PM

    @Martin Critten: Are you for real!!!! There will be no bi lateral agreement, can’t be regarding customs. Also there is the issue of conformity. This is part of the issue with the backstop. It’s not all about peace, it will be Europe’s only land border with the UK and the eu will need to protect the single market. Article 24 or GAT in the wto guidelines can offer tarrif free access but can’t be unilateral and there has to be agreement on all sides. If that happens the UK will be swamped with goods much cheaper and outside eu conformity. It’s the same as the UK having zero tarrifs.

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    Mute Colm O'Leary
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    Feb 24th 2019, 5:00 PM

    Britain resents the EU who it sees as interfering with the running of Britain. And they see leaving the EU as a way to damage the EU with the removal of their annual contribution to its running. And the brexiteers are willing to destroy Britain in the process. It’s as simple as cutting off your nose to spite your face. Simple as! They are positive that the EU is doing all this to “punish” Britain. Paranoia is at an all time high so they will never sign up to anything that Teresa May brings them back because they are paranoid that the EU is putting one over on them. A hard Brexit is going to be bad for us but it will be a disaster for Britain and it will be all of their own doing. So just sit back, grab a big bowl of popcorn and watch them destroy themselves!

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    Mute pat seery
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    Feb 24th 2019, 1:41 PM

    Run RunRun the clock is ticking

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    Mute johnbunton
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    Feb 24th 2019, 2:04 PM

    Get them out of our country. It’s not before time! Enough is enough there even more useless than are own

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    Mute Billy McNamara
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    Feb 24th 2019, 5:06 PM

    @johnbunton: You English or Scottish??

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    Mute Garry Clarke
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    Feb 24th 2019, 5:01 PM

    Everytime there is a new negative development the Brexiteers are grasping straws by blaming the EU. They seem incapable of taking responsibility for the chaos they have brought on themselves.

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    Mute IP.Man
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    Feb 24th 2019, 2:52 PM

    Spanish university closed ERASMUS for UK students.
    https://twitter.com/DenisMacShane/status/1099347068739567616?s=09

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    Mute Dotty Dunleary
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    Feb 24th 2019, 5:32 PM

    Varad’s should just stfu and let the EU negotiating team do all the talking, let the Brexit mess play out in the British parliament, it doesn’t need him sticking his oar in!

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    Mute iComment
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    Feb 24th 2019, 2:22 PM

    Don’t think there will be 2nd referendum….She hopes that when the vote comes their will be panic with the MP’s….Pressure from constituents and British business not to go over a cliff…In that atmosphere her deal will be passed by parliament….

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    Mute Michael Maher
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    Feb 24th 2019, 8:24 PM

    LEO is playing a dangerous game of chicken and the chicken that gets knocked down will be Irish.

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    Mute Frank Lloyd wright
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    Feb 24th 2019, 5:32 PM

    Ireland will be shafted.

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    Mute pat seery
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    Feb 24th 2019, 5:38 PM

    To me the UK are playing games with Rrexit they have no intention of leaving just playing for TIME and then a new vote when the public will know what they are voting for
    NOT Borris lies

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    Mute Robert Preston
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    Feb 24th 2019, 9:47 PM

    @pat seery: Put money on it then .NOT going to be another vote There will be a deal at the last moment and the EU will cave in but both sides will claim victory No way in hell the EU will allow the UK to crash out Come back to me on the 29th march and see if i was wrong

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    Mute 5Times
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    Feb 25th 2019, 12:00 AM

    @Robert Preston: You couldn’t be any more wrong
    EU won’t fold. Its disaster for the UK if they are stupid enough to leave without a deal

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    Mute TamuMassif2019
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    Feb 24th 2019, 10:38 PM

    Has the MP’s gone crazy or are they running bout like headless chickens…

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