What problems does early years childcare face?
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What is the current crisis in early years childcare waiting lists in Ireland?
The Claire Byrne Show on News Talk. With Aviva Insurance.
So Budget twenty twenty seven, it's just two weeks away and it may prove critical for early years childcare in Ireland. Up to forty-six thousand children are on waiting lists and service providers are struggling with staff turnover. They're losing up to a third of their staff a year. So what can the budget do to help? Well, I'm joined by Susan Crowley, Director at Mount Hog Montessori School in Kerry. Susan, good morning. Good
morning, Claire. Thank you so much for having
me on. Um delighted to talk to you. Now I think people are aware that once a child is conceived, uh you have pregnant mammy and daddy coming in and asking, can the name go down on the waiting list for cresh? But what you're seeing now is some people coming in before the baby is conceived.
Absolutely.
How are early years providers coping with staff turnover and recruitment for expansion?
Um it was an a new one on us this year. Um one of our we put a we found that there's a baby boom in twenty twenty six and our service caters for children from age twenty-four months up. So um we lobbied our parent group to make sure that we were catering for families that were in our centre already to see what they needed for twenty twenty eight. So one of the mummies um booked a place for twenty twenty eight. So we were asking her how she was feeling and um she was looking at us quizzically and then she says, Oh no, I'm not expecting, but I will be before the end of the year. So that was a new one on us. But absolutely once once the pregnancy test is confirmed, we often know before families um just just trying to book the children in, which is a shame really.
Well and Susan, there's a real pressure to that as well for you as service providers, isn't there? Managing and maintaining the list and being fair about it.
Absolutely. And I suppose that was um that's one of the things that we're finding. The difficulty is we're we're very lucky. We have a very strong core team of staff and they're fabulous educators.
Why is core funding and pay parity essential for attracting and retaining early years educators?
And we don't have a difficulty retaining them, but where our difficulty lies is in recruitment for expansion. Um so you know, rather than at the moment we are at capacity, we know that. we're going to have a problem in 2028. We're actively seeking other premises. Um in the local town and we we've been in touch with say developers locally and that's fine, but it's recruiting that the team is going to be the difficulty. Mm-hmm. But I think where I think where this needs to be addressed, I suppose really, we well very much welcome the forty six million that was given towards the core funding. Um And that goes towards our staffing costs. But what we do need to do is there needs to be An effort to make the career attractive so that colleges are able to recruit school leavers that go into the career and then they're happy to see it as a viable option for their futures.
So that's I think where the difficulty lies. It's around making it attractive. And it's great that we're um prioritizing, I suppose, graduates and we're looking for parity, pay parity with teachers, but we also have to remember.
What challenges do private Montessori schools face with funding caps and fee freezes?
Um Q QI uh candidates also have to be looked after there. You know, we need to have pay parity with the SNA model in schools, for example. Yes, and you know, so I mean yeah. Yes. And it's a good thing.
Needs to look like a career. You need you need to have career progression. So it's not just the entry level salary that needs to be right. There needs needs to be steps, you need to look at that and say, Well, I can be there in ten years' time and I'm going to stay in the industry.
Absolutely. And I suppose where the recognition needs to go, we're early years educators. We're not child minders. And we need to recruit the right people for the right career.
How does the inspection regime and compliance affect service quality and funding?
But as you say, there has to be a progression opportunity. There needs to be a pay scale. And it's the core funding is I suppose the core funding is based on the minimum staff required to operate our services within ratio. But service Services like mine, we operate above ratio to ensure quality. We're inspected by the Department of Education.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the current crisis in early years childcare waiting lists in Ireland?
0:01–0:54
2
How are early years providers coping with staff turnover and recruitment for expansion?
0:54–1:59
3
Why is core funding and pay parity essential for attracting and retaining early years educators?
1:59–3:09
4
What challenges do private Montessori schools face with funding caps and fee freezes?
3:09–3:50
5
How does the inspection regime and compliance affect service quality and funding?
3:50–4:37
6
What budget measures are being proposed to lower childcare fees and support families?
4:37–5:32
7
What are the key take‑aways and next steps for early years childcare after the budget announcement?
5:32–6:21
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from The Claire Byrne Show
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