by Kate Heaney
CONCERNS are growing for the 8,200 children in Donegal who avail of early childcare as Ireland lags behind other European countries in providing this essential service, with many facilities having long waiting lists.
Donegal currently has some 91 providers of early years care and despite 2023 seeing unprecedented investment in the sector, the Donegal born CEO of Early Childhood Ireland, Teresa Heeney (pictured) wants to see a lot more done.
She told the Donegal News that staff recruitment and retention were among the most serious issues, particularly low pay and a lack of pension or maternity leave after acquiring the necessary qualifications.
“In 2022 a minimum wage of €13 per hour was set but that has really lost currency now. You cannot work in the sector unless you have the necessary qualifications. The biggest area of costs is salaries which account for 70 to 80 per cent of the cost of running the service. While the guidelines are for one adult to three children, the adult needs a break so more staff are required, so minimum ratios do not work.
“We struggle to convert people from being qualified to actually working in the sector as they choose to work in other sectors with better pay rates. Full employment makes it more difficult to recruit staff and we have to compete with schools where salaries are much higher.
“We should enjoy the same terms and conditions as other people teaching five-year-olds,” she said.
Ms Heeney added that the huge shortage of places all around the country needs to be addressed by government.
Another issue which needs to be addressed is the time providers must spend on administration of the various government schemes taking educators away from quality contact time with children, she said.
“Many providers are also dismayed by the attendance requirements. These lead to a lack of flexibility for families and are not centred, as they should be, on the lives and needs of children.
“We are proposing a unification of the existing funding programmes: National Childcare Scheme (NCS), Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) and Core Funding, to allow settings to use capacity, not children’s attendance, as is the case with one of the programmes now. This would offer improved flexibility with no financial consequences for providers or for parents,” she explained.
The CEO also called for a coherent medium to long-term plan for the sector to allow adequate investment which would provide sustainability and certainty for children, families and providers into the future.
“Encouragingly, we have heard members of the Oireachtas Children’s Committee voice their support for our proposals,” she said.
“What we need now is action so that we can have an Early Years and School Age Care sector in this country that works for all concerned. Ireland’s children and families deserve nothing less,” the Ballybofey native added.
Receive quality journalism wherever you are, on any device. Keep up to date from the comfort of your own home with a digital subscription.
Any time | Any place | Anywhere
SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT EDITION TODAY
and get access to our archive editions dating back to 2007(CLICK ON THE TITLE BELOW TO SUBSCRIBE)