Regina Bushell: Covid will drag on unless we reclassify childcare professionals as key workers 

Ireland's economic recovery from the pandemic relies on workers in the early learning and childcare sector being moved up the vaccination priority list

Regina Bushell: Early learning is crucial to Ireland's recovery because it's a service that ensures other parts of the economy work as planned.

To parents of young children, it is self-evidently impossible to provide adequate levels of care and education in a home environment while simultaneously carrying out professional duties to a fully productive standard. 

This has been especially tough for healthcare and other key workers who are required to be physically present for their jobs, often at extremely short notice or unsociable hours.