Kathleen Funchion raises childcare fees crisis and staffing risks
Kathleen Funchion spoke about the early years childcare sector, focusing on steep childcare fees, pressures on workers and strains on providers. She urged the minister and the Government to address fees ahead of the budget and sought support from TDs for a motion.
Fees and affordability
Kathleen Funchion warned that childcare fees are a growing burden on families, citing figures in the region of €800 to €1,300 per child per month. She said high fees particularly affect women, limit workforce and education participation, and are a key factor in child poverty reports.
Workers and pay
She highlighted that early years staff are often highly qualified, frequently to degree level, yet wages do not reflect that training. She noted ongoing pay talks and warned of recruitment risks, including organisations reportedly advertising to recruit staff from abroad, with one group from Spain due to visit on 10 October.
Providers and administrative pressures
Funchion acknowledged some positive funding moves but said a cohort of smaller and sessional providers are struggling, especially in rural areas. She emphasised the administrative burden and argued that one size does not fit all when supporting providers.
Availability of places and family impact
The deputy said availability of places is a concern, with parents starting to plan for childcare as soon as they learn they are pregnant. She recounted stories of families postponing a second child because of childcare costs, linking fees, staffing and provider capacity as interconnected problems.
Call for action ahead of the budget
The speech framed fees as the primary focus of the motion and called for governmental support and backing from all TDs. Funchion urged that addressing workers' pay and targeted support for providers would help improve access and affordability in the early years childcare sector.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
I move the motion, the opening slot is 20 minutes. I am just taking five and then my colleagues should be joining me. So thanks very much and I am delighted to get the opportunity to raise this issue in relating to the early years childcare sector. As we know, we are in the cost of living crisis. Many people now, particularly coming into the winter months are going to be facing increased fuel costs, increased energy costs. Childcare is a cost that is a burden on families. We also know that it particularly affects women. It affects them participating fully in the workforce, maybe returning to work, returning to education. We also know that any reports that are done in relation to poverty and child poverty point to access to affordable childcare as being one of the key factors in coming out of poverty. So the fees and the level of fees that people are paying are really, really important. In advance of the budget, we wanted to highlight that issue and call on the Minister and the Government to really seriously address the fees issue. We are asking for governmental support and the support of all TDs tonight in our motion. I do also want to speak about some of the other issues in relation to this sector as well. We are talking about fees that could be anywhere in the region of €800 to €1300 per child per month, which is colossal. But there are also two other very important parts to this sector as well, and that is those that work in the sector. They are very well qualified, often to degree level. Yet, as we know, the wages do not often reflect the very valuable work that they are doing. I know that there have been some moves, and in fairness to acknowledge that, and there are ongoing pay talks even, I believe, at the moment as well. Hopefully they will be successful, but I do think it is important to highlight that issue as well. Something that was brought to my attention today is a group that are actually advertising for people to work in childcare abroad, a group from Spain that are coming over on 10 October. We are training people here to a high level, and yet there is a possibility of them leaving to another sector for better paying conditions. I think we are at a really crucial moment in this sector, because right now we have the providers, we have the workers, and it is unlike some other sectors where funding is available, but maybe the staffing is an issue. I see Minister Abbott, you are here as well. The disability sector, we are crying out for staff, for example. We do not want the same thing to happen in the early years childcare setting. We have the staff here now, so it is important that we look at the issues that affect the workers, the wage increases, and then also the providers. We have had this debate on numerous occasions in this chamber and in other forums as well. There are some people that are doing okay in terms of the core funding and everything. I do want to acknowledge that, because I know last year, and in fairness I said it around the time of the budget last year too, that there were some positive moves. However, there is a cohort of providers that are struggling. Some of the smaller providers, some of the more kind of sessional services that are maybe just ECC only, and particularly we are seeing this in rural areas, and they are really struggling in terms of the administrative burden. I know that is something that we have spoken about before. Nobody has an issue with regulation, with paperwork, with the administration that obviously does need to be done, but there has not been a huge amount of additional financial support to help providers in that situation. There are many providers that feel like one of the calls that they would say is that one size does not fit all. I think that is a fair statement to make for some of them, and I do think that we need to look at that. I have always been an advocate for looking at the three sectors together, the issues that affect the providers, the issues that affect the workers working in the sector, and then of course the fees, which is the primary focus of this motion. We do know, as I have said, that the fees are becoming very difficult for people. We are hearing stories all the time of people deciding that they will put off having a second child, or they are not planning out if their child is going to be in school before they have a second one. Other things as well that I want to very briefly touch on is the availability of places. We have heard reports from people saying that as soon as they find out they are pregnant, they have to start planning for a place for the early years. I do think the three things are very much interlinked and connected. If we address the staffing issues and the issues affecting providers, I think it will help in relation to some of the accessibility of actual places, but as I say, the primary focus of tonight is the fees. Thanks, Clarelock. is
Thank you for downloading 🙏
If you publish this material on social media, we would be very grateful if you tagged VideoParliament. It helps us reach more people and keep building a transparent archive of Irish politics.
