CHILDCARE PROTEST
On Wednesday last Tir na nÓg Community Childcare Centre, from Collooney, closed its doors and travelled to Dublin to join their thousands of colleagues for a National Protest organised by SIPTU together with the Federation of Early Childhood Providers, Association of Childhood Professionals, the National Community Childcare Forum, Seas Suas and the National Childhood Network for better PAY.
Jelca Davey, Administrator at Tir na nÓg describes what led to the protest.
“The Childcare sector and the work they do is highly underestimated and highly underpaid.
“The Government regulates this sector, tells us how to run it and what qualifications are needed.
“Tusla can inspect a service any time unannounced and if any little thing is not according to the rules, a service may be put down as ‘non compliant.’
“The work in creches and pre-schools is done during a child’s first six years, the most formative years of a child’s life and therefore the most important years.
“People who work with these children are educated in childcare and work tirelessly with your/our children day in day out, in an environment where they teach them how to walk, talk, being able to do tasks independently, acquire social skills and ethics and learn about the wonderful world around them, where they can be whoever they want to be.
“People who keep learning and working with your child’s best interest at heart, because they love working with children.
“Yet, these people are often just seen as ‘Baby sitters’.
“While the government has set up new schemes to help Parents with their childcare fees which is roughly €4 per hour to care for the most precious person in their lives, they forget that these subsidies do not trickle down into the service and therefore not enabling the service to pay a better wage to their employees.
“This very successful protest was to say all that and more, we give respect and teach respect. Now we want it back.
“A big thank you to all the parents/guardians of Tir na nÓg and other creches who supported us on and for this day.