National Pyjama Day 2023

The Big Picture 23 June 2020

The Big Picture 23 June 2020

On May 12 the Dáil convened a special committee to examine how the state has dealt with the Covid-19 pandemic. This is a Joint Oireachtas Committee, meaning it is made up of TDs and Senators. Over the last few weeks, the Committee has been examining topics such as the impact of Covid on our health services, nursing homes and so on. This week, the focus of the committee will be on the impact that Covid-19 has had on the early years and school age childcare sector.

As the largest representative organisation for the sector, Early Childhood Ireland was invited to make a submission by the committee and also asked to present our submission in the Dáil. You will be able to see our full submission here as soon as it is uploaded. A video of Teresa’s contribution will be uploaded here in due course.

The focus of our submission is twofold, firstly we sought to outline the negative impact that the sudden closure of early years settings has had on our members since 12 March. We then move on to outline the concerns that members have with regard to re-opening and the summer financial package that was announced in early June. Finally, we highlight members concerns from September onwards.

The central message of our submission is that while the financial supports, including the WSCS and the summer financial package are generally welcomed, they are a sticking plaster for a much larger set of problems. As we say in the submission:

We acknowledge the additional supports that were provided to early years settings as part of both the bespoke wage subsidy scheme and in the reopening package;  but the need for special measures was in itself a tacit acceptance of the precariousness of the sector. The issues of staff recruitment and retention and the viability of settings have not gone away and have been, if anything, exacerbated by the Covid-19 crisis. However, our sector is extremely diverse, and problems cannot be resolved with a “one size fits all” solution.”

The theme of diversity in the sector is one that we really wish to underscore to the committee in our submission. The incoming government will have to get to grips very quickly with the ongoing issues in the sector and realise that a simple “one size fits all” solution is not going to work. What may work for one set of providers, may be detrimental to others.

With this in mind, our submission also calls for enhanced engagement with providers on the part of the DCYA. We see the positive impact that this has had with regard to the re-opening guidelines, where efforts were made to ensure a wider consultation and provider engagement. This has resulted in a plan for re-opening that has a greater degree of “buy-in” from the sector than would have been the case if the DCYA had not consulted. We state our wish to see this continue in our submission to the committee.

Our submission concludes with an appeal to members of the committee to not allow the transformative opportunity that the re-opening of society will present to go to waste. As we pointed out last week, the new programme for government repeatedly says that a new “flexible” approach in care and education will be needed for babies and children in the emerging economy. This may be true, but flexibility in early years care and education needs to be matched with realistic funding levels to allow this to happen. We urge the committee to make early years funding a priority so as to allow our members to deliver the services that will best support families as society and the economy reopens.

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