Paul Hosford: why childcare is the new political battleground
At his party's think-in in Tullamore this week, Taoiseach Simon Harris made a bold announcement about Fine Gael's future plans for the sector, saying that a proposal which aims to create an affordable and accessible childcare model that will reduce the reliance on the private sector will be included in the next Fine Gael manifesto. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA
Health, housing, the cost of living.
Health, housing, the cost of living.
Health, housing, the cost of living.
Since the 2020 election, political parties have focused largely on the same issues. Hardly a week of Dáil time has gone by without an opposition or government party raising one of the above.
Sure, proceedings get overtaken by the issues of the day and there are more than enough motions, committees, and column inches used on other things, but generally speaking, it's health, housing, and the cost of living.
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With the Dáil's return just days away, however, a new issue has come to the fore; childcare.
At his party's think-in in Tullamore this week, Taoiseach Simon Harris made a bold announcement about Fine Gael's future plans for the sector, saying that a proposal which aims to create an affordable and accessible childcare model that will reduce the reliance on the private sector will be included in the next Fine Gael manifesto.
A consultation process would be launched within the next week to engage with parents and existing childcare providers on the matter, Mr Harris said.
That news, part of an overall strategy to woo voters through "delivery" rather than ideology, comes just days after coalition partners the Green Party called for a statement model for childcare.
Party leader Roderic O’Gorman said that he was proposing that the State steps in to provide childcare services, as well as providing a legal right to two years of free preschool in the party's manifesto for the upcoming election. He has led a major, but incomplete, overhaul of the sector in his role as Children's Minister, which saw a second increase to the National Childcare Subsidy come into effect on September 1, having been agreed in last year's budget.
The minister and his department says that this has reduced costs by 50%, but when asked to provide data for this claim, it is all a little unclear. Personally, and for many around myself, the cut has been closer to 35%-40%, which is still incredibly welcome, even if our elder son missed out on the increase announced last October as he has since started school.
For Mr Harris, it marks an interesting change from the 2020 Fine Gael manifesto which said:
"Over the next five years, we will invest an extra €400m, as we reduce childcare costs for parents and increase quality and accessibility.
"This will bring annual investment in childcare to more than €1bn in 2025.
He was, of course, a senior minister in the government at the time that the document was drawn up, but denies that his manifesto signalling is anything to do with stealing a march on the Greens. Of course, no political party would ever countenance such a thing.
Of course, it is a more specific vision to the Greens who in 2020 said their policy was to "balance benefits for parents who care for their children themselves, have relatives care for them or avail of formal childcare facilities" and said specifically they would "bring Ireland into line with the EU average for childcare payments through an integrated scheme of direct subsidies to families and supported caps on costs through local authority provided childcare".
But it isn't just the government parties putting the issue front and centre. On Thursday, Sinn Féin launched its plan for a State-provided service. This is something the party indicated that it wanted in 2020, but was not clear on specifics, saying that its "vision for the decade is to deliver childcare as a public service free at the point of use and over the course of a single term of Government, fees would be reduced by 66%", understanding that voters cared as much about cost in the short-term as about overall provision.
But, with health and housing crises, why focus on childcare for the next election?
The easiest answer is that it's a far more achievable aim than fixing the others.
Housing is incredibly complex, takes in stakeholders across society and is sensitive to all kinds of external pressures. And health. Well, health is health. It's possible that parties have pinpointed the childcare sector as one that could be solved with state intervention. The State already spends about a billion euro a year on the industry and the requisite knowledge and staff already exists to run it on a day-to-day basis.
Which leads to another answer - demographics. Many of those who in 2020 told exit pollsters that housing was a key concern have since bought homes and housing as a voting issue tends to be one of proximity. If you have a house, you're less interested in housing policy. But if you've bought a house and since had a kid, you're suddenly very interested in childcare, particularly when the first invoice lands.
Political parties know who likely voters are and they know what appeals to them. Right now, there are around 330,000 kids in formal childcare across the country. I would wager that most of their parents would be enticed by a cheaper, more readily available alternative that was linked to their education. Because, frankly, childcare is a pain. Finding it, sorting it, paying for it.
Could childcare become the next entrant into the ever-present political argument? A lot of parents will hope so if it means a little less pain.
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