Childcare costs and funding
Deputy Wall says childcare remains unaffordable, with parents paying huge fees, providers under pressure, and a major chain being sold to foreign investors after lobbying for more State support. The Tánaiste says a publicly supported childcare system is the goal and points to increased subsidies and core funding.
Speaking on behalf of the still very relevant Labour Party,------
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-----childcare is a major cost of living for many working families across this country. In too many cases, parents are paying a second mortgage in childcare fees while others are struggling to even find a place for their children. Many community and small providers are barely getting by while educators are leaving the sector day by day. At the same time, we hear that a major childcare chain is being sold to a UK investment firm for €75 million, a chain that has come to Leinster House with its begging bowl and lobbied hard for an increase in fees and for funding increases. Ireland is sleepwalking into a corporate takeover of childcare. The Labour Party was the first party to propose €200 childcare fees, something that all parties seem to agree on. When will the Government get serious about delivering a fully public system of early childhood education and care that delivers affordability for parents, quality for children and fairness for small and medium providers, who are the backbone of this sector?
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I thank the Deputy. I believe that a proper publicly supported childcare system that works and has enough places, access and affordability is key, not just as an equality issue or a social issue - though it is both - but as an economic issue. It is an important issue.
There is a consensus in this House, at least on the destination we want to get to. We have made progress. Any parent who uses the national childcare subsidy scheme knows that scheme provides more funding and support now than it used to. People know that core funding has increased. People know we are now investing more. For the first time, the State is now investing directly in publicly funded State facilities as well. I believe that with four budget left to go for this Government, the next budget needs to deliver a roadmap to get us from A to B and show how we will make that progress. I want childcare to be a major priority in the forthcoming budget.