ONE CONSISTENT MESSAGE across the political spectrum in Election 2024 was a shared commitment to a publicly funded Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) system.

As we move from manifestos of election past to the programme for government yet to come, can we be sure that Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) is on the agenda when government formation discussions recommence in January 2025?

Regardless of political persuasion, there is widespread recognition of the multiple economic, political and moral reasons why investment in ECEC is good for children, families and society. From a child-rights position, high-quality, accessible, flexible and affordable ECEC should be every child’s experience, enhancing their development, educational outcomes, and health trajectories across the lifespan.

As a critical social and economic infrastructure, ECEC can support parental employment and training, mitigate cycles of disadvantage and address gender inequality. A competent system of quality ECEC would increase Ireland’s competitiveness and alleviate the burden on the ‘silver army’ of thousands of grandparents and unpaid relatives who pick up the shortfall for a dysfunctional system of ECEC.

A turning point

Investment in public systems of ECEC is increasing in many countries that previously relied on a market-based approach to provide this essential public good. In 2021, the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Childcare Plan committed to a $10-a-day childcare model, but implementation remains beset with difficulty. The promise of affordability resulted in soaring demand, exposing considerable gaps in the ECEC infrastructure: a lack of spaces, childcare deserts in urban and rural areas, limited provision for infants, and a shortfall of suitably qualified staff.

Ireland should anticipate similar challenges as we attempt to address the failings of a commodified ECEC system that has resulted in a scarcity of ‘childcare’ places, the highest parent fees in the EU, variable quality of provision, and a serious recruitment and retention crisis due to low pay and working conditions. If the next programme for government is to make real strides in addressing the crisis, the emphasis must be on a competent system of ECEC, not a ‘cost-per-unit’ approach to Ireland’s most promising citizens.

Political will

The next government has the political will, public support and financial means to address decades of underfunding and move toward an adequately funded ‘public system’ of ECEC.

This is not a new concept; international models and research evidence tell us ‘what works’ and doesn’t and where smart money should be invested to reap long-term benefits for children, families and society.

To convert the cross-party pre-election promises into a meaningful and prudent Programme for Government, international evidence tells us to prioritise three key areas:

Capital Infrastructure — State-owned purpose-built facilities

Ireland has a chronic lack of early education places and purpose-built facilities, with an estimated 30,000 children on waiting lists. Purpose-built ECEC facilities are prohibitively expensive to buy or rent, meaning not-for-profit entities and independent private providers are locked out of expansion.

The state has the resources to address this shortfall of places through a significant one-off investment in publicly owned, fit-for-purpose buildings. This action will provide a legacy of sustainable ECEC infrastructure through outright purchasing of suitable buildings close to schools, communities, residential developments and workplaces that can be leased at no or low cost to independent private providers, social enterprises or not-for-profit companies as part of a partnership for the public good.

Capital infrastructure for essential public services exists across Ireland for our schools, libraries, hospitals and community centres, so why not for ECEC?

Valuing our existing providers

In Ireland, private for-profit businesses deliver over 75% of ECEC provision. Most private services, like community-not-for-profits, are small to medium independent businesses led by committed early childhood professionals rooted in our local towns and neighbourhoods. Despite increased government investment, many independently owned and community-based services struggle to break even, while large, multi-site investor-controlled corporate providers see six-figure director remuneration and multi-million-euro dividends to international shareholders.

A publicly funded system in Ireland must work with independent private and not-for-profit ECEC providers, supporting and incentivising participation in a partnership for the public good based on adequate state funding in return for agreed-upon quality standards, regulatory compliance, and fiscal accountability. A competent ECEC system should be inhospitable to private equity and venture capitalists seeking a quick return on their investment.

Establishing a truly professional workforce

Early Childhood Educators are central to the quality of a child’s early learning experiences, and high quality is imperative to realise the potentially generous returns of ECEC investment. In 2021, 60% of early childhood educators earned below the living wage. Rather than respecting and rewarding the 30,000-strong workforce for their invaluable contribution to society, educators experience precarious working conditions, low pay, seasonal and time-bound contracts, and little to no career progression.

Salary costs account for 70%-80% of operational costs in ECEC services, and the State is already a major contributor to wages through funding schemes paid to providers. A move towards a public system provides a strong rationale for Early Childhood Educators to be paid by centralised government, like others in our education system; teachers and special needs assistants. This would include professional salary scales, promoting professional recognition and fair remuneration of an essential workforce. Such a model can potentially attract back the thousands of ECEC graduates who left the sector, seeking a fair wage, professional recognition and job security elsewhere.

Fintan O’Toole recently commented that the funding of post-primary education transformed Ireland from the struggling, underdeveloped state it was to the economic success it has become. There is a growing awareness and understanding that a real transformation of early education and the creation of a competent system of ECEC is not only possible but plausible. Pre-election promises of the past can manifest into a visionary investment in the future, the Donogh O’Malley moment for Early Childhood Education. This legacy will be embodied in the children and families of Ireland today and in our social and economic cohesion of tomorrow.

Grainne McKenna is Assistant Professor, Early Childhood Education at DCU. Dr Sheila Garrity is Assistant Professor in Early Childhood Studies, School of Education and Senior Researcher, UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre, University of Galway.