Kathleen Funchion urges minister to support childcare wage scale

Thanks very much, Ciarán Comhairle. Minister, I have to say, I actually didn't see your amendment until late this evening, and I don't know why I made the mistake of thinking I should know better at this stage, but I actually thought that the government might support the amendment, because what's contained in it is solutions, and it's all done in very serious consultation with the sector, and not overnight, not a few phone calls, a few days before we decided to put this motion in. This consultation has been going on for years. I mean, I remember back in 2017 on the Children's Committee doing a report for that committee about the terms and conditions and the wages in the childcare sector, and three years later, the same issues exist. I got a text during this debate from somebody to say that they've heard of a closure just today in Limerick, 90 staff let go. So there's very, very serious issues, and part of me wants to give you the benefit of the doubt as a new minister, and as someone that's worked previously with now Minister Rabbit, and I wish the both of you well genuinely, and I see myself as somebody that does want to work constructively with people. But unfortunately, my instinct is telling me, if you were genuine about this, and you really wanted to see solutions and action, you'd support the motion, and not put in your amendment. I just want to point out one part of your amendment. You want to support the achievement of appropriate terms and conditions for the early learning and care workforce. What does that even mean? What do you think are the appropriate terms and conditions? Because I think everybody should start on at least a living wage, and deserve to have a wage scale, and it's something that we've been talking about for years in this chamber and in the Children's Committee. The consultation has been done. I can give you scores and names of people in organisations that will happily consult in the morning with you, and they all support this motion. The sector supports this motion. The consultation is there. The solutions are there. And if you are genuine about this, and you are serious, and if you do want to work with people, then I would urge you to withdraw your amendment and support our motion. The one thing that you can certainly do, because it was done in April or the very end of March, is reinstate the wage subsidy scheme at 100%. The amount of people that have had their wages cut, and it's not actually the fault of the providers. They do not have the funds. By at least doing that much, first of all, it would demonstrate that you are serious, and it would demonstrate that you want to take real action. And it would also mean that people could keep their jobs and keep their wages. Now, that would be the very first step. There's a lot more to be done. But there is those of us here that have been working on this for the last number of years that have loads of solutions in consultation with the sector. And the one piece of advice I would give you is consult with the sector. Don't use it as an excuse to draw something out over years, but have meaningful and genuine consultation. And I really hope that the meeting that you have with CIPTU isn't to say to them that you support a sector employment order. As someone that worked in the trade union movement for years, that is not the answer here. You have the power to introduce a wage scale starting at the living wage, and at least starting at reinstating the wage subsidy scheme at 100%. Because there isn't going to be a sector this time next year of genuine investment, and this is not taken seriously. And that's just the reality. And it's not me saying that every single deputy from this side of the House has said it. And you've even acknowledged it both yourselves that there is issues. So I appeal to you to do the right thing and withdraw your amendment and support our motion and actually take this on board and be serious about it and work with us in relation to the solutions. Thank you. Thank you.