The new system introduced last year for the funding of childcare has failed providers and families and has led many services to close, Elaine Dunne of the Federation of Early Childhood Providers has said.
The federation, which represents over 1,700 childcare providers around the country, will withdraw services for three days next week in protest at the level of funding.
“The reason we're doing that is because funding has made our businesses non-viable. A lot of us, of the small and medium services, we are tied into a fee freeze dating back to 2017,” Ms Dunne told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland.
“The new system that was brought in last year has failed many of us. There are many providers out there struggling to keep their services open. You can see the closures that have happened this year alone.
"And there are a lot of providers saying if something doesn't give, we're just going to close the doors between now and next June. That's not okay. The more services that are closing, the fewer facilities there are for children to come into and for parents to go to work.”
Similar protest action had been planned for late last year but was called off for discussions with the Government, but nothing had changed since then, said Ms Dunne.
Nothing changed from that discussion. Nothing at all. We got nothing.
“Nothing changed from that discussion. Nothing at all. We got nothing. So this time we've said we won't be calling off these three-day closures at all because we've heard nothing from Minister O’Gorman. He has not reached out to try and negotiate some kind of a deal. That's quite concerning.”
The federation has been seeking a breakdown of the funding allocated to their sector. “Because I can tell you now it's not coming to us on the ground. If you look at the rise in funding this year alone, we're getting three cents an hour per child, and yet we're expected to keep paying all of our bills and everything's going up and up and up all the time, and we're struggling on the ground.”
Ms Dunne pointed out that between 2020 and 2023 inflation had risen by 16.9 per cent and during that same timeframe they had received an increase of only six per cent in funding.
“It doesn't add up, and you’ve still got a fee freeze dating back to 2017.”
Parents around the country had expressed their support for the position taken by the federation, said Ms Dunne.
“We've always kept our parents and every service in the loop. So they've always known that nothing has been given to us. They've always known that there's a problem on the ground.
"The providers have kept them informed at all times. We issued a letter seven or eight weeks ago to all of the parents, and there is a full understanding of why we're doing these closures. Of course, it's an inconvenience, like a lot of these parents have to take parental leave for two, three days, but they're also coming into town to support us on the day.”
