Childcare workers rally on pay and funding

Thousands of childcare workers are to gather outside the Dáil today in protest against cutbacks in the sector which they say make it impossible for them to earn a living wage.

The rally is organised by the Association of Childhood Professionals (ACP), the representative body for a sector that employs 25,000 workers in creches, montessoris and other pre-school services, many on minimum wage.

Trade unions Siptu and Impact and groups such as Barnardos, the National Women’s Council, and Early Childhood Ireland are backing the action.

Among their demands are a reversal of the 2011 cut of 3% in capitation payments for pre-school providers, and for a national payscale for workers in the sector to be agreed and funded within the next five years.

They want the ECCE free preschool year extended to cover the full year and not just the 38 weeks of the academic year — an arrangement that turns qualified professionals into seasonal workers with long periods out of work and trouble getting mortgages and loans.

They also want more financial support for workers who are on costly courses upskilling to meet the ever higher training requirements for the sector.

ACP chairwoman Marian Quinn said the number pledging to attend the rally, the first in the sector’s history, was overwhelming.

“We are very pleased considering it’s a working day, and the majority of people wouldn’t be able to close up both from the point of view of their own income and because they have contracts with parents,” she said.

The ACP met Children’s Minister James Reilly last Friday, who committed to carrying out a costing exercise to tease out how much funding the sector needs.

“That’s very positive because nobody has costed the services before,” said Ms Quinn. “They’ve just decided this is the sum of money we’re putting into it so make do with it.

“Ultimately, we won’t be able to stand by the quality of the services because you won’t get qualified, experienced people to stay working in the profession.

“It will be an election issue because parents can’t afford to pay more and people within the profession can’t afford to live as they are.”