Children's minister rules out ending fee freeze in childcare sector amid protests

Robyn, one, and her mother Elle Mulqueen from Ladybirds Childcare, Nenagh, during the protest  over Government funding at Leinster House on Tuesday. Pictures: Gareth Chaney/ Collins

Protesters from closed childcare providers converged on the Dáil on Tuesday afternoon demanding more funding for their businesses.

But Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman insisted there would be no ending of the freeze on fees charged by providers, saying the system was “absolutely central” to the Government’s core funding policy for the sector.

A large crowd had gathered at the entrance to Leinster House from noon, eventually blocking Kildare Street to traffic for a number of hours, with the crowd chanting "What do we want? Fair funding. When do we want it? Now" in unison.

The organisers of the protest said there 3,500 people in attendance, though other estimates put this at fewer than 2,000. 

While the crowd — the majority of them bedecked in orange in solidarity with the childcare cause — comprised for the most part providers and their staff, there were many parents with children in attendance also.

Gemma Casey and Tracey Maguire from Tír na nÓg in Rosslare, Co Wexford.

Those gathered were of one mind — their businesses are not sustainable and core funding is not working.

Toni O’Rourke, a childcare professional from Navan, Co Meath, was particularly scathing of Mr O’Gorman, a feeling replicated throughout the crowd.

“His figures are all lies. What is going on at present is just horrendous,” she said.

“Where is he now? In his office ignoring us,” her compatriot said.

One owner of a sessional early years facility in West Cork, who asked not to be named, said she and her staff had felt they had no choice but to join the protest.

“Parents have been taken care of with core funding, that’s true. It is of little use if the providers themselves can’t survive though. And realistically, it’s not as if we had a choice in terms of whether or not to sign up for it or not,” she said.

Core funding

Core funding was introduced in September 2022 to the tune of €259m after many years of under-investment in the childcare sector.

While it has led to an immediate decrease in the fees paid by parents, which had been amongst the highest in Europe, businesses signing up had to commit to freezing their fees — a fact they say had made their businesses unsustainable given the current inflationary climate.

Mr O’Gorman — appearing at a separate press conference in Government Buildings at the same time the protest was taking place — insisted reintroducing fee hikes was not on the table.

“The fee freeze is absolutely central to core funding. We’re putting in a huge investment directly into services, €287m this year, and in exchange for that we’re seeking a deep freeze so that parents can have certainty in terms of the fees they're paying and can then benefit from any improvements we secure under the National Childcare Scheme,” he said.

The minister likewise declined to confirm he remained committed to reducing childcare fees by a further 25% in next month’s budget, although this stance appeared to be contradicted by the Taoiseach speaking in the Dáil a short time later, who said: “It remains the Government's objective to reduce the cost of childcare by 50%.”

“We set that out some time ago and we're halfway there already.”

Karolina Mach from Carrigaline. 

Mr O’Gorman, meanwhile, said he “absolutely” agreed childcare workers continued to be underpaid, and said he recognised “that there’s frustration in the sector”.

The protest itself was addressed by several providers and a number of independent TDs, including Peadar Tóibín, Michael Collins, and Danny Healy Rae.

Frank Keane, a Co Mayo provider, addressed the crowd and dismissed the fact the Government refers to businesses that have signed up for core funding as their "partners".

“There is no partner that will make you run a business where your head is just above water, that’s no good,” he said.

“They have to sit up and listen. There are thousands here, it’s amazing.”

Regarding the minister’s suggestion the protest was “unwarranted”, Mr Keane said: “I’ll tell you what’s unwarranted, rhetoric and spin telling people that they’re getting funding”.

“There are people on their knees, one woman we know very well spent €20,000 of her child’s college fund to remain open. And for what? They just want to nail us into the ground, it’s scandalous,” he said.