The Big Picture 20 October 2020

Budget 2021 will be remembered as one of this most disappointing in recent years for our members and for parents with childcare funding frozen at 2020 levels. While the government decided to borrow heavily to invest in critical areas such as health and education, early years and school-age care found itself side-lined and marginalised, in spite of the crucial role that providers have played in getting the country up and running again after the initial lockdown.

Our initial response was outlined in the correspondence from our CEO Teresa Heeney and in our press release last week. The absence of any meaningful additional funding for early years and school-age care has not gone unnoticed in the media and the political sphere. Opposition spokespeople were quick to round on the government in their speeches immediately after the Budget announcement. Pearse Doherty and Mairéad Farrell of Sinn Féin, Ged Nash of the Labour Party, Róisín Shortall and Jennifer Whitmore of the Social Democrats and Paul Murphy of Solidarity were quick to notice the fact that childcare didn’t feature in the government’s spending plans for 2021. This was amplified by party spokesperson’s issuing statements on the issue. Kathleen Funchion TD of Sinn Féin, the party’s spokesperson on Children and Disability etc put out this statement where she set out how she was:

“…shocked and disappointed that the Budget totally fails to address chronic under investment in the childcare sector. This was a missed opportunity to reform this crucial sector.”

Senator Ivana Bacik, the Labour Party spokesperson was similarly unimpressed in her statement. In it she set out how the Budget was a “wasted opportunity” to transform early years:

“It is often said that there is no better opportunity than a crisis. While there is much to welcome in the Budget package announced by the Government today, it is clear that the Government has not seized upon this opportunity to advance a real equality agenda. For the disability and childcare/early years sectors in particular, not enough has been done to deliver transformational change for people in Ireland.”

In a similar vein, the Social Democrats’ spokesperson, Jennifer Whitmore was equally scathing of the lack of measures to support our sector. You can read her full statement here in which she outlines how:

“The government badly failed in Budget 2021 to seize the opportunity to re-imagine our childcare system. This was a once in a generation opportunity the government should have taken to rebuild a system that worked for children, for families, for employers and for the workers in the childcare system.”

The media were also quick to note the fact that childcare did not get a look in in terms of investment. Some of the coverage can be seen here:

Extra.ie – Why do you not value childcare? — Furious staff turn on finance ministers

RTE.ie – Absences of further childcare supports in Budget 2021

Newstalk.com – Childcare should be seen as ‘critical and essential public service’

EchoLive.ie – Concern for the future of Cork’s childcare sector following Budget 2021 announcements

As members know, we have requested a meeting with the Minister to express our dissatisfaction and to demand an explanation on how the government expects providers to continue to operate in these circumstances. We will be sure to update members on the outcome of this meeting. In the meantime, if you wish to contact your government TDs to express your dissatisfaction, our policy team will be more than willing to support this, if you send an email to policy@earlychildhoodireland.ie.