CHILDCARE IMPASSE WILL EXCLUDE YOUNG FAMILIES FROM THE ROADMAP TO RECOVERY

IF Ireland is to get back to work, we need a plan to provide childcare for families that meets the needs of parents and eases the fears of service providers. As efforts to reopen the economy gather apace, thousands of young families and single mothers remain in limbo.

It has been clear for some time that the Government has failed to come up with any plan, let alone a workable one, to get childcare and the early learning sector back up and running.

Now the clock is really ticking. A survey by the Federation of Early Childhood Providers (FECP) has laid bare the stark realities facing parents expected to return to work next month.

Of 609 childcare providers surveyed, nine out of ten said that they either won’t reopen on June 29 or have serious reservations about doing so.

That must serve as a wake-up call. This situation needs to be addressed with Government financial support and the setting out of clear guidelines.

The future of our economy and the ability of families to put food on the table depends on it, while 27,000 childcare and early education workers want to get back to work too.

Problems with childcare didn’t just fall from the sky at the onset of this pandemic. During the general election, Sinn Féin campaigned to transform childcare into a fully fledged public service over the next decade.

Before Covid-19 reached our shores, we already had a broken childcare model that failed the needs of children, parents and childcare professionals. Those fortunate enough to afford childcare were paying the equivalent of a second mortgage for the privilege. It doesn’t have to be this way.

BUT now the Covid-19 emergency has deepened those cracks in a very real and ominous way. If this impasse continues, the vast majority of parents will struggle to return to work. They will have nobody to take care of their kids.

I can only imagine how these parents must be feeling now after doing everything possible to keep their children happy and safe over the nine weeks of lockdown.

The pandemic unleashed all kinds of worries and anxieties on families. People have been stressing about the wellbeing of their loved ones and fearing for their livelihoods.

Finally, the roadmap for reopening the country provided some light at the end of the tunnel. But then you read that many creches will remain closed.

You hope to hear of a plan from Government. But all that is forthcoming is commentary, opinions and excuses – nothing resembling a concrete plan. All the while you know that email or text from your boss with a return date is coming over the hill.

The Government now needs to issue clear guidance for parents on the issue of creches and childminders.

And parents, mainly women, who are unable to return to work due to the absence of childcare, must not lose their employment or suffer total income loss as a result.

They must be supported through income supports and not be told to take unpaid parental leave.

These are real fears, and we only have a month to address them. Urgent work needs to begin now to ensure that childcare facilities can reopen on June 29.

The lack of urgency from the Government on this issue is alarming. How do they expect the economy to reopen if parents can’t get back to work?

This isn’t about recriminations, it is about working together to make up for lost time and to deliver a workable solution, with input from all relevant stakeholders.

The health and safety concerns across all workplaces are very real and childcare facilities are no different.

I have engaged with childcare operators, as I know other representatives have. What they have told me mirrors the issues raised by the FECP.

Many are worried about the ability to implement social distancing in a pre-school environment; it goes against every natural instinct of a young child.

There are also major concerns about access to personal protective equipment (PPE) as well as fears of additional costs as a result of potentially needing to hire more staff combined with dramatically reducing capacity.

The Government must ease the fears of providers and childcare workers.

Childcare providers and workers are in desperate need of a lifebuoy to keep them afloat, allow them to get on with their work and to help them through this rocky period.

The State is currently covering the wage bill of the childcare workforce.

The Government must give a commitment that it will continue to do so until the end of the year and that sufficient sustainability support funding will also be provided to ensure creches can make necessary health and safety adjustments that will allow them to reopen their doors.

As well as giving peace of mind to providers and the 27,000 workers in the sector, such supports would offer assurances to parents fearing price hikes too.

We need to play to our strengths here. Throughout the Covid-19 emergency, workers and the general public have shown great patience and solidarity.

THERE has also been an admirable determination from everyone across the State to adapt to the changing needs brought about by the public health and safety measures.

That willingness will extend to both parents and those providing childcare services, but the conversation has to start immediately.

What we need is engagement with all relevant stakeholders; parents, providers, trade unions, insurance providers and Government.

Lack of consultation saw the plan to provide childcare for healthcare workers unravel earlier this month.

We ought to have learnt from that.

Instead, the chairperson of the FECP revealed that ‘they had heard nothing’ from the Department.

How can we expect a solution to this problem to be found if the Government won’t pick up the phone? Now is the time to rectify that.