Government has established a special unit to investigate what a ‘nationalised’ childcare model might look like in terms of staff; service offering; fees for parents; and overall funding model
Valerie O'Reilly, founder of Rainbow Day Care Centre in Sandyford, Dublin, says the fee freeze deprived services like hers of being able to address any shortfalls through additional charges. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw“We probably get two, three phone calls a week from people desperately looking for childcare,” says Valerie O’Reilly of Rainbow Daycare in Sandyford.
Sinn Féin, Labour and the Social Democrats have all argued it should come from another substantial increase to public funding with each proposing caps on the fees parents would pay for full-time early learning and childcare of €200-€250 a month. On the basis of data assembled from core funding returns, the department says total wages in the sector are just over €1 billion and total running costs are €1.53 billion with no provision for profit.
She points to Canada, the UK and, in particular, Australia as examples of how an over-reliance on private providers, particularly larger chains, led to the commercialisation of the system, poor returns on the State’s investment and a lack of quality for parents and children. “The issue is money,” she says. “One per cent of GDP would make an absolutely huge difference to the sector. Funding for pay needs to be ring-fenced because staffing is the biggest problem and leads to almost all the other problems.”, which represents workers in the sector, agrees but believes operators generally are profitable enough to pay significantly more than current minimum rates which start at barely above minimum wage for many and just €15.50 for a graduate room leader.
Roderic-O-Gorman Simon-Harris Micheal-Martin Dublin-City-University
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