Pandemic has ‘exacerbated’ the issues faced in childcare sector, TDs to be told
CHILDCARE providers will today warn TDs that issues in the sector relating to insurance, staff recruitment and retention, and the viability of businesses have been “exacerbated” by the coronavirus crisis.
The Dáil’s Special Committee on Covid-19 Response will hear from childcare organisations and unions as it examines how the sector has fared during the pandemic as well as plans for how crèches will reopen.
Siptu will tell the Dáil’s Covid-19 probe that some healthcare workers used up all their annual leave and have been left in financial difficulty due to the failure of the Government to find a solution for childcare for frontline staff.
Senior officials from the Department of Children will defend the handling of childcare while also saying predicting demand later in the year as parents return to work is “uncharted waters”.
Department secretary general Fergal Lynch will outline how the Government helped providers maintain viability through a special wage subsidy scheme at an estimated cost of €7.3m.
But he will also say estimating childcare demand in future months is a “significant challenge”.
Teresa Heeney, the chief executive of Early Childhood Ireland – which represents providers – will outline how the last three months have been “extremely challenging”.
She will acknowledge the supports that have been provided by the Government but also say the need for special measures is in itself a “tacit acceptance of the pre-existing precariousness of the sector”.
“The issues of insurance, staff recruitment and retention and the viability of settings have not gone away and have been, if anything, exacerbated by the Covid-19 crisis,” she will say.
A lack of clarity on the postCovid funding model for providers planning to reopen on June 29 is “causing anxiety”, she will say.
Ms Heeney will argue that the Government needs to engage with the sector on how funding needs will be met.
Crann Support Group – an organisation that works with community childcare groups – will highlight a survey that showed 98pc of providers will have some level of financial difficulty in reopening. It found that 79pc will have concerns about workers returning and the greatest worry for staff is the health implications for themselves and their families.
The Association of Childhood Professionals will tell TDs that the additional layer of Covid-19 health and safety requirements will mean that crèches will require extra staff.
They will be needed for managing arrivals and departures, enhanced cleaning schedules and additional administrative work.
Siptu divisional organiser in the health sector Paul Bell is to tell TDs that the experience of its frontline members in seeking to secure childcare since the start of the lockdown has been “frustrating, challenging and emotionally distressing”.
His statement says that, by early May, many members’ entitlement to annual leave had dried up and their only option was to retreat from the health service through unpaid leave.
He will say that the failure of a Government childcare scheme for health workers was a “major setback” for staff who were “desperate for some relief and support.”