Childcare sector crying out for funding

THE viewing of the Prime Time programme on Early Years Care and Education (ECCE) centres was truly shocking and in the aftermath, requires some serious reflection and action.

ECCE provision in Ireland has been dominated by private provision and low levels of public investment. For example, Ireland spent about 0.4% of gross domestic product on ECCE in 2009 — well below the OECD average. This is despite the fact that in 2010, we had the highest number of births ever recorded and our preschool population has increased by nearly 18% since 2006.

In New Zealand and the Scandinavian countries, which are widely recognised as international best practice in early childhood services, investment exceeds 1% of GDP.