‘Funding is the key’ childcare meeting hears

It was an emotional moment in an increasingly heated public meeting held to discuss the current crisis facing the Irish childcare sector. With each story of potential financial ruin, the ‘tuts’ grew louder and heads shook on even more exaggerated swivels.

“I’ve worked in childcare for over 20 years, and took over the service I’m in eight years ago. This summer my husband had to take out a bank loan,” said one local childcare facility owner, addressing her current struggle to keep her business afloat operating under the Government’s Core Funding model.

With a €5,000 overdraft to contend with as well, the woman told the Hotel Kilmore meeting - to applause - that she’d decided not to sign up to Minister for Children, Roderic O’Gorman’s ambitious new funding programme.

Core Funding sits alongside Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM), the National Childcare Scheme (NCS), and the soon to be phased out Community Childcare Subvention Plus (CCSP), as the funding programmes for childcare in Ireland.

The meeting heard that, while “well intentioned” initially, the flaws of Core Funding have been sorely exposed by a “perfect storm” caused by inflation and staff retention difficulties, leaving many operators scrambling to remain viable.

Addressing the meeting from the back of the room, the childcare operator has opted not to sign up with Core Funding for “lots of reasons but predominately to get control over my finances again”.

She says she felt “buried in paperwork”, and her feeling was that the supposed “partnership” between childcare providers and the Department has manifested into “an abusive relationship”.

Signed up to Core Funding - based on operating hours, number of places offered, the age group of children, as well as staffing requirements determined by ratio - she found herself “€13,000 down” even before bills were taken into account.

The woman feels she has no other option but to put her prices up in January due to the new tiered pension system coming into effect, and the newly introduced ERO which, for the first time, sets a minimum wage scale across a range of roles for early years and school age professionals.

Everyone in the room agreed that they’d love to pay their staff more money but pointed out that they now also have to contend with budgeting for three additional days paid sick leave, at 70% of gross salary, up to €110 per day, and five days for employees seeking domestic violence leave.

“For the first year ever I haven’t been able to put money back into my service. This is the first year I’m going into a new year without money,” said the struggling childcare provider. “It’s the Government that has put me in debt.”

Like others in attendance, the woman finds herself subsidising the cost of running a baby room (0-3 years) with earnings from her other services.

It all links back to the Core Funding fee freeze implemented in September 2021, said meeting organiser Elaine Dunne, chair of the Federation of Early Childhood Providers (FECP).

On top of inflation running at its highest for more than 30 years, Elaine says some providers have not increased their fees for parents since 2014, or in some cases as far back as 2010.

It’s making it impossible for some to “make ends meet”.

“If they’re not closing down now, they will be gone by Christmas,” believes a worried Elaine.

While there is no obligation on childcare providers to accept Core Funding, and official figures show 95% have signed up, anecdotally many small to medium childcare providers feel coerced into signing-up, the meeting heard.

Elaine, who set up the FECP four years ago, has already held similar events across the country, with the Kilmore meeting attracting representatives from across Cavan, Monaghan and Meath. The situation is the same wherever she goes. In some cases there have been “tears”, driven by “horror stories” from people “pushed to their absolute limits” by a sector they don’t feel supported in.

Elaine outlined her own financial woes.

She currently pays €6,000 a month in rents, and has to have €15,000 or three months worth of wages in her bank at any time. She has to meet her accountant soon too.

“I’m not looking forward to it,” she said. “We’re sick of scrimping and scraping.”

FECP and its supporters now plan to withdraw services for an initial three days in September - on Monday 25, Tuesday 26 and Thursday 28 - with Friday 29 also being considered in order to highlight their continuing plight.

Paperwork is also being finalised by the FECP which hopes to unite the voices of a predominantly female-led industry by applying for union status.

“Something has to give and, unfortunately, as we all know, there are people already planning to close for good because they simply can’t survive, they can’t do this any more,” Elaine told the meeting.

Elaine and the FECP met with Minister O’Gorman and Department officials in early August, but that allegedly ended in acrimony, after just 11 minutes. Legal recourse is being considered.

Elaine held aloft a two-page document detailing the growing list of complaints raised by childcare operators during the FECP’s tour of Ireland thus far. It includes providers facing mental burnout to the staff retention crisis in the sector; funding issues again and IT problems with the “not fit for purpose” Hive, the dedicated programme portal for providers.

There are mounting frustrations too over the “cumbersome workload” associated with administrating NCS; and how costs have spiked with only one insurer left in the market.

The lack of recognition of childcare providers as educators, Elaine said remains “a huge issue”.

“We are giving children a foundation for life,” she remarked.

“There are a lot of things the Department are doing to us that are very wrong and are hurting us,” Elaine continued, adding: “It’s forcing all us smallies out of business.”

It was argued that State funding of the sector follows the system adopted by the already under pressure British Commonwealth, and not the EU’s.

Much was also made of the fact that, according to latest OECD calculations, Ireland spends 0.3% of GDP on early years childcare compared to the average 0.8% in other member states. In 2022, Ireland’s GDP was €474 billion, and the demand is that Ireland increases expenditure to one per cent by 2025 in line with UNICEF recommendations.

In Cavan, one speaker highlighted how she was €8,000 in debt having taken out a loan over the summer to retain a single Level 7 qualified member of staff.

Then there is the threat posed by “black market” facilities opening “only a few doors down”; as well as the “haemorrhaging” of trained staff to Fresh Start, the largest private provider of childcare services in Ireland.

One childcare provider explained how she had gone weeks without Core Funding because “someone in Tusla wouldn’t press a button” for a registration certificate. “Forget the Core Funding, up our fees. Life was a lot easier without Core Funding. I ran my business for 18 years successfully without it.”

“The staffing crisis is like hospital beds. The beds are there but there are no nurses,” said another. “I have 10 places there if had the staff.”

“All our hard work is going down the Swanee,” said a speaker nearby. “They’re listening but not hearing.”

Paula Donohoe, who operates Clever Clogs Childcare, and had spoken to the Celt in the lead up to the Kilmore meeting, argues: “We shouldn’t have to put a begging bowl out to stay viable.”

With Mayo Fine Gael TD Alan Dillon expected to demand answers of Minister O’Gorman once the Dáil recess ends, Paula is urging local council and Oireachtas representatives to do likewise.

She said the government had a chance to do something “meaningful” in the past. Instead the sector received a 3c rise per hour for children under three - equating to 90c per day or €3.70 per week.

“Where are the economies of scale?” she asked. “Respect is a two-way street.”

On the proposed three-day closure, Paula stated the belief: “We’re damned if do and damned if don’t.”

The meeting was attended by TDs Brendan Smith, Niamh Smyth (FF) and Pauline Tully (SF), Senator Robbie Gallagher (FF), and councillors TP O’Reilly and Madeleine Argue (FG) and Áine Smith and Patricia Walsh (FF). There were apologies from several not in attendance including Minister Heather Humphreys and Cathaoirleach Philip Brady.

“I’m sorry for the pain you’re all suffering,” said Deputy Smyth, extolling the virtues of Nuala Rogers who was present, the childcare professional who looked after her own daughter Juliet.

Deputy Tully said she had “come to listen and learn”, and recommended FECP seek a meeting pre-budget.

Cllr O’Reilly said councillors present would do all they can do to raise the issues highlighted; while Cllr Smith, who raised the matter before, said she’d again ask the council to charge pre-schools a nominal fee on rates in line other ‘education facilities’. “You need to up the ante,” suggested Sen Gallagher, before Deputy Smith urged the FECP to prioritise and focus their efforts on changing one problem facing the sector at a time.

“There are very many important issues raised here tonight. This is for the public good,” he acknowledged.

“What we are hearing here is that there is a need for real reform. The buck stops with the Minister!”