On Tuesday 27th February, our Policy Officer Amy McArdle attended at the Committee Stage of the Childcare Support Bill 2017. You will recall that the Bill is before the Dáil, where it is common practice for the Committee Stage consideration to be taken by Select Committee, in this case the Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs.
The latest EU Social Justice Index ranks Ireland lowest in the EU for investment in pre-primary education and underlines the need for substantially increased investment in early years education.
DCYA today announced the first part of the Independent Review of the cost of providing quality childcare: a call for evidence, which will inform subsequent stages of the Independent Review. Following this initial piece of evidence gathering, Crowe Horwath will engage with childcare providers in the form of a survey, interviews, focus groups, and consultation with sector representative bodies and other stakeholders.
Tuesday 17th October marked International Day for the Eradication of Poverty 2017. Each year, the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection supports small initiatives to promote awareness of the Day and issues of poverty and social exclusion. This year the Department funded Early Childhood Ireland (ECI) to produce three videos capturing the impact of poor pay and conditions in the early childhood care and education (ECE) sector on the lives of early years educators.
This week we have our second installment of the HR Webinar Series, information on risk assessments, and we look at the changes made to the ECCE Scheme in Budget 2018.
Last year, Minister Zappone managed to secure significant funding for the early years sector, but it is essential that this level of investment is sustained for the foreseeable future.
Today, Tuesday 10th October 2017, Budget 2018 is being announced by the Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe TD. ECI is outside Leinster House recording the announcements as they are made, giving our reaction on the ‘childcare measures’ to the media, and preparing an analysis of the Budget for our members, which you can read in next week’s Early Times Weekly.
We are delighted to announce the formal launch of ECI’s Budget 2018 Submission Invest for the Best: Building a world-class early childhood care and education system for Ireland.