€125m needed for early education
Impact pointed out that, at 0.1% of GDP, Ireland’s spend on early childhood education puts it at the bottom of the OECD league table.
“Irish parents pay some of the highest childcare costs in the world, while most of those working within early education don’t even earn a living wage,” it noted.
The union wants the Government to allocate an extra €125m in the upcoming budget — and at least €625m extra over the next five years — to bring Ireland up to the OECD average by 2022.
Impact deputy general secretary Kevin Callinan said the Government should eliminate the special Vat rate for the hospitality sector and invest it in early education, pointing out that “even then we’d still be well short of the OECD recommended level”.
The union also calls on the Government to introduce two months’ paid parental leave in the upcoming budget.
It said the leave, which it costs at €84m, could be taken by either parent and should be “with a view to moving towards paid parental leave enabling parents to remain at home for the first year of life”.
It said research has shown that babies do best when cared for at home until their first birthday, yet, despite a Programme for Government commitment, paid parental leave has not been extended beyond existing maternity and paternity leave provision.
Meanwhile, the creation of a public sector super-union could take a major step forward in the next few weeks when the memberships of Impact, the Civil Public and Services Union, and the Public Service Executive Union vote on whether to amalgamate.
The new union, which would have in the region of 85,000 members under the name Fórsa would see low and middle-ranking civil and public servants represented by one union.
The Association of Higher Civil and Public Servants, which represents top-ranking staff, chose not to be involved.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
