Carol Nolan: Calls for Action on Early Years Pay and Therapy Backlogs
Carol Nolan raised concerns about the early years child care sector and growing therapy waiting lists, urging immediate government action. She highlighted low pay, poor conditions, calls for a joint labour committee and a redeployment plan to clear therapy backlogs.
Early years workforce crisis
Carol Nolan cited CIP2's early years professional survey, noting that 67% of early years educators earn below the living wage of €12.30 per hour and that 90% of all professionals struggle to make ends meet. She said sick pay, maternity pay, pensions and other basic conditions are virtually non-existent and that 38% of early years professionals are actively looking for a job outside the sector, rising to 42% among room leaders.
Calls for a joint labour committee and pay scale
Nolan referenced CIP2's call for the establishment of a joint labour committee, as promised in the Programme for Government, to allow the introduction of an early years pay scale. She argued that such structural measures are necessary to address low pay and poor working conditions in the sector.
Support for small-scale providers
She stressed that small-scale early child care providers also need targeted financial supports and measures to remain viable and to ensure children continue to receive quality care during the pandemic.
Therapy waiting lists in Lee Shoffley
Nolan raised alarm about waiting lists in Lee Shoffley, reporting that 2,014 children are waiting for occupational therapy and 1,453 are waiting for speech therapy. She warned that children with special needs are suffering as a result of these backlogs.
Proposed redeployment solution
As a pragmatic interim measure, she proposed redeploying staff from regions without backlogs to Lee Shoffley until the local waiting lists are cleared, while recruitment continues. Nolan asked the Government to take that proposal on board to relieve immediate pressures on children and families.
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Minister, I think you will accept that finding solutions to the problem of child care in the midst of a pandemic is no easy task, but that difficulty was compounded by the fact that the early years sector in particular, prior to the pandemic, felt that it was unheard, disrespected and that its solutions were only nominally accepted. Recently, I participated in a Zoom call with CIP2 and the early years sector. The message was very clear. This is a sector full of hope, but they are being continually let down. The Minister will be aware that CIP2 recently launched its early years professional survey. The survey shows that 67% of early years educators earn below the midday living wage of €12.30 per hour and 90% of all professionals struggle to make ends meet. Sick pay, maternity pay, pensions and other basic conditions are virtually non-existent. 38% of early years professionals are actively looking for a job outside of the sector. This rises to 42% of room leaders, where most graduates are employed. From what I understand, CIP2 is calling for the establishment of a joint labour committee, as promised in the Programme for Government. This would allow the introduction of an early years pay scale. But Minister, what we also need is, we need the small scale early child care providers to also be supported with financial supports and measures. The other issue I want to raise here today is the waiting lists in Lee Shoffley in terms of occupational therapy and speech therapy. It is really impacting on children. I have raised this issue several times. Children with special needs are really suffering. I know currently in Lee Shoffley we have 2,014 children waiting for occupational therapy and 1,453 children waiting for speech therapy. I have already put forward a possible solution. In areas where we don't have backlogs and there are regions that don't have the same backlog as Lee Shoffley. Could the staff from those regions be redeployed until the backlog of children is cleared in Lee Shoffley? I think this is a pragmatic solution and while recruitment is ongoing, I think it's a fair solution. And I'm asking the Government to take that on board here today.
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