'If I were a childcare worker I would join a union', says Katherine Zappone
Minister for Children Katherine Zappone has said that if she were a childcare worker she would join a union.
Speaking on RTÉ radio’s Today with Séan O’Rourke show she said that workers in the childcare sector need better care and conditions.
“If I were a childcare worker I would join a union. They do need to get better care and conditions.
"The government is not the employer, if they get organised, join a union, then they can go to the Labour Court to get a sectoral employment order - sets the pay, wages and conditions.”
Ms Zappone said that she is calling for an extra €150m per year over the next five years to intensify investment in the sector to make it affordable for families and children.
She expressed surprise that Fianna Fáil is recommending tax credits for child minders.
“My own view is that tax credits do not benefit children, those who earn most benefit most for tax breaks, I really don't think the choice of tax credits represents moving with an approach for an Ireland for all, I don't think they support child care workers, we've got evidence from other countries that they also result in increasing costs for care.
"We need to support child minders.
“There is still an affordability issue that's why we need significantly more investment in the sector.”
Ms Zappone said that in her tenure she had corrected decades of neglect as well as under investment.
“I said four years ago that wasn't going to happen in four budgets, looking back what did we have then but one year of free childcare, that's called the ECCE, there was a couple of other schemes.
“In the five years before I became Minister there was an increase of investment of about €91m, in my three-and-a-half years I have increased investment to €294m - what have we done with that money?
“Under my ministry we doubled ECCE – we now have two years of free pre school, we offer a subsidy for children under three of €20 a week equivocating to over €1,000 a year, we moved from the children who had the least being subsidised from €95 to €245.”
However, Fianna Fáil’s spokesperson on children, Anne Rabbitte said she wanted universal subsidy to rise from €25 to €80 per week.
“I’d like to see a tax credit for child minders - for non-relative carers and minders, a tax credit of €2,000 per annum. That would cost €26m.
“The cost of increasing universal subsidy from €25 to €80 per week will be €81m, I’d like to move from 38 weeks to 48 weeks for year one and two, that comes in at €15.6m, I’d also like to see capital funding for 6,000 more spaces, the cost of that is €18m.
“At the moment 43,000 children avail of child minders - that are non relative which is approximately 13%, these are not creches. It's to give parents on flexi time a choice.”
She said that the current scheme totally excludes parents who avail of child minders, “what I am trying to address here is to make an Ireland for all not just children whose parents avail of child care setting like creches, I'm trying to acknowledge that when you look at the pie chart child minders play a huge role in that - the tax credit is for the parent, not the child minder.
“This is the first step, acknowledging child minders who play an invaluable role, they can get garda vetting, register with Child Minding Ireland, open to inspection, open to revenue inspection.”
Ms Zappone pointed out that the national childcare scheme act provides parents to have a financial entitlement to child care subsidies, “child minders are included in that, but to avail of it they have to be registered, at the moment, 81 are registered with Tusla.
"If they are registered families are able to avail of subsidies.
Ms Rabbitte said that there are only 81 registered child minders in the country, but there are 43,000 children availing of child minding services.
“We are not supporting those parents, what I want to do, what Fianna Fáil want to do was to give the option under a tax credit model.”
