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THE SUSTAINABILITY OF the free preschool scheme was high on the agenda for the 250 delegates attending our conference “Leading the Way in Early Childhood Care & Education” in the RDS over the weekend.
As the representative group for 80 per cent of preschools, daycare, parent & toddler and after school services, we are calling for an additional €5 million budget to maintain the free preschool scheme to deal with Ireland’s baby boom. While our members were somewhat reassured by the Minister for Children’s comments that the free preschool year is here to stay, this has got to be backed up by strong political will to keep this scheme free and universal.
Referred to as the ECCE (Early Childhood Care & Education) scheme, this is I believe the best single policy measure ever and it has saved the childcare sector from buckling under, but finances are still too tight for many. The way the ECCE scheme works is that the government are the buyers and control the price as they put the money into the services and parents put their children into the services. However, there’s only so much downward pressure that can be applied to the capitation rate, without putting people out of business. I would invite politicians to have a go at balancing the books of their local preschool for just one week, to get a true sense of the challenges being faced every day by those working in the sector.
“If we are to follow that utopian childcare model in Scandinavia… we have to invest in the sector to get there”
Through the scheme, we’ve embraced more young children from disadvantaged backgrounds into preschool, something they wouldn’t perhaps have experienced without the ECCE scheme. We want to repeat our call to expand the scheme to 2 years, as Ireland plays catch up with our European partners who have way more State investment in both preschool and after school services. We must also address the needs of children with special needs who also have a right to attend preschool. If we are to follow that utopian childcare model in Scandinavian countries that Minister Joan Burton refers to, we have got to invest in the sector to get there.
And speaking of Minister Burton, the escalating debate around childcare for lone parents in light of proposed social welfare changes was considered by our 250 delegates who came from after school services nationwide, as well as preschool and daycare. We were reminded by those delegates that we already have the blueprint for the free preschool scheme, a scheme that was fast-tracked by this sector as we demonstrated great flexibility in implementing this scheme over the past 2 years. This blueprint will be the starting point for joint discussions with Ministers Burton and Fitzgerald regarding their action plan to support lone parents with the best quality childcare.
We will also use our meeting with Minister Burton to once again warn her about proposed legislation whereby employers would be made responsible for the first four weeks of an employee’s sick leave. If implemented, this would devastate the sector because of the ratio regulations and many providers would simply have to close their doors as they couldn’t afford that double whammy in terms of cost.
The recent €60 million in applications from the childcare sector for capital grants from a €6 million fund was also discussed, and this is a sign of the times and indicative of the needs for building improvements in the sector. Responding to this and expanding the fund will have real benefits to childcare providers, the construction industry and the children.
“There are inconsistencies around whether childcare facilities qualify as ‘education facilities’ which are exempt from rates”
Another bugbear for our members that raised its head at the conference is the issue of commercial rates and the inconsistencies around the country about whether childcare facilities qualify as ‘education facilities’ which are exempt from rates. This is an issue that both Minister Fitzgerald and Minister Hogan are well aware of and we need a solution fast before more people go out of business, the last straw being their big rates bills.
We have argued with both Ministers that the care and education of toddlers and preschoolers can’t be separated out as two different processes, something that is actually reflected through the merger of the inspection process between the Department of Health and the Department of Education, which makes absolute sense. Education and care go hand in hand and the bottom line is that more childcare services should qualify as education facilities and therefore be exempt from rates automatically.
It was heart-warming to hear keynote speaker Dr Anne Looney, CEO of NCCA (National Council for Curriculum & Assessment) acknowledge the leading role that early education and care plays in modern day Ireland. What a champion for the early years sector Anne is. I totally agree with her observation that the most important influence in education is not the policy, or the curriculum, or the building, all important elements in their own right.
Rather it is the quality of the adult that interacts with the child and it’s not just how well they know their stuff that matters. It is what they believe that really counts. Do they believe that every child can learn and has the potential to succeed? We’ve got recognise the quality people working in the early years sector and invest in them through continuous professional development and training.
We welcome the Minister for Children’s announcement of a new Expert Group to advise on Ireland’s first Early Year’s Strategy, and I look forward to playing my part on that group. Childcare is a critical issue that must be higher on the government agenda and linked directly to jobs.
To put it in context, the early childhood care and education sector generates almost €320 million in salaries, with a further €105 million spent in the wider economy and employs 22,000 qualified professionals.
Every effort must be made to that services remain open and viable, so that they can support children and enable parents to participate in the workforce.
Irene Gunning is CEO at Early Childhood Ireland.
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Baffling how the Irish-Left sympathizes with Islamic Conservatives who support lighting gays on fire, stoning women to death, blowing up Jews in the name of “Allah”, imposing Sharia Law, etc. They Irish-Left are vicious when it comes to our so-called “conservatives” who would instantly be interpreted as liberals by the Muslim countries and even viewed as liberal by Eastern Europeans and many US Republicans. The German Army should have done what the Egyptian Army did when Hitler and his crew were democratically elected. There has to be a line drawn. I don’t sympathize at all with MB protestors. The irony crying about democracy while using the democratic process which got you in power to end democracy.
100% right Kevin. Well said. The only fools here are the ones banging their chests for the Islamists and “Palestine”.
How about you address his points instead of playing the man. Interestingly its you who looks like a fool. Fool.
Constructive contribution Adam…
What your witnessing is a counter revolution. I know the Irish left aren’t supporting Islamist or militarist coup governments. What’s really going on is the ruling class have decided they like things the way they where under Mubarak and with US backing and AiD they have stolen a revolution, by criminalising an elected government and killing its activists.
Tom Ha! Your hilarious, Yes the 30 million who took part in protests to oust the corrupt Islamist government were all “elitists”.
And YES the left is defending Islamists, Look at Boyd Barrett, Raymond Deane of IPSC, Socialist Workers Party and SIPTU’s Mags O’Brien ALL at the pro Morsi rally in Dublin
https://www.facebook.com/tigeress.eye/media_set?set=a.565646546836409.1073741832.100001732057139&type=1
Democracy and Islam are not compatible. A working democracy is judged upon how it treats it minorities and the Morsi regime’s record speaks for itself. Religion poisons everything; politics; sport; human rights. It divides people and justifies bigotry and hatred.
It is nothing short of revolting what religion demands from humanity people should wake up and stop defending this obscenity. Freedom of religion should be a basic human right but also freedom from religion should be respected, The Muslim Brotherhood clearly rejects this; ask the non-Muslims who tried to live under the Muslim brotherhood tyranny.
The politically correctness of this article is nothing short of vomit inducing.
That’s what I was thinking. Nauseating, oily,weasily article, defending the indefensible in the name PC .
This is the root of the problem.
You cannot vote to end democracy and take away someone else’s rights. Sharia based law in incompatible with basic human rights.
It’s a damned if you do (Muslim Brotherhood) and damned if you don’t (Military) scenario.
Religion is the root of this. It is intolerant; savage it promotes ignorance, division and bigotry.
Religious Apologists are hypocrites they demand respect for their bigotry and superstition yet they get offended by criticism.
Still a bit sore about that Joe I see
“All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.”
– Thomas Paine, (1737-1809), The Age of Reason, pt. 1,
If the Muslim Brotherhood actually respected democracy then the military would have never ousted them. What has happened in Egypt proves that religion and politics do not go well and should always be kept apart.
Guns and tanks don’t go well with democracy too.
I had hoped the the democratic will that brought the Muslim Brotherhood to power might moderate their position. I was heartened when I heard that Morsi ordered the Gaza smuggling tunnels filled with concrete, that they in no way were allied to Hamas. But the brutal overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood by the military only means they will never trust democracy again but may seek more violent means to attain power. It seems Egypt is back to where it was with Mubarak.
These “anti Imperialists”, LOL. Align themselves with the greatest imperialist movement ever known to man, The Islamic Caliphate. Which the Muslim Brotherhood openly wants to restore.
Be it Erdogan islamising Turkey or Hamas who were “elected” in typical Muslim Brotherhood style aka one election and then claim for 8 years without an election your still “democratic”.
The Muslim Brotherhood is an enormous well financed organisation and with it’s EURO HQ here in Ireland we can be sure it has it’s grip on our government and journalists. Isn’t it obvious, our journalists refuse to openly write about the connection between the Halawa family and the MB and the Euro HQ of the MB in Clonskeagh Mosque.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caliphate#Re-establishment_of_the_Caliphate
This Islamophobic bile very much mirrors the kind of vicious anti-Semitism European Jews faced in the 1930s. For shame..
Firstly, Since when did democracy begin and end with elections ?
Democracy is about freedom of press,freedom of religion,protection of woman and minorities. The Muslim Brotherhood were changing the constitution and the Egyptian people didn’t want that.That is anti democratic.
You really showed how you were here to promote your propaganda with the use of the word “junta”.
What is hilarious is Why is the Irish Anti War Movement part of the pro Morsi rallies ? Why is Raymond Deane of the IPSC and other members of the IPSC (Ireland Palestinian Solidarity Campaign) ,Mags O’Brien of SIPTU and Richard Boyd Barrett TD all taking part in pro Morsi,pro Muslim Brotherhood rallies outside the Egyptian Embassy ?? What a weird alliance ? Or is it really ? The European HQ of the Muslim Brotherhood is in Clonskeagh ,Do they make “donations” to RICH Boy Barrett and the IPSC and the IAWM ?
Here are the pics of them all at the pro Muslim Brotherhood rally.
Link is broken
Very good article. If you truly believe in the democratic process do you have to support a democratically elected government who’s beliefs and actions are in many ways totalitarian and you deeply disagree with? It also compromises the wests support of Israel, because for years Israel has been described as the only genuine democracy in the Middle East. For a few months there was a second which has now been overthrown by a military supplied with guns by the west.
Interesting article, but events in Egypt present a real dilemma.
Democracy doesn’t always get it right – I don’t normally subscribe to Godwin’s law but this might be a good time to remember that even Hitler was democratically elected.
True democracy is about respecting the views of the entire electorate and forming policies that accommodate everyone to as great an extent as possible, not just winning at the ballot box and taking it as carte blanche to do as you please regardless of the views of those who voted for AND against you – this would just make you an elected dictator.
If 51 foxes voted to eat 49 chickens this would be a democratic vote, but does it represent democracy as most people understand it?
In addition, it is arguable that religion and politics should never mix.
The next few months will be very interesting and revealing in Egypt…
Really ? You actually going to try and suggest the Muslim Brotherhood and the Israeli government are similar,
You have a huge poor population, highly religious and highly under educated with very little awareness with anything but what is said in the mosque or on tv. In such an environment bring a politicised, violent islamic group which is flashing its wealth to gain political gain and using religion to paint any political resistance from other parties as unbelievers (‘kafereen’, ‘haram’). Do you really think there is any democratic process has happened there? The egyptian revolution was not a religious revolution, but those who won the ballot were! What is the future of the 15% christian population in Egypt under such rule?? Who is going to protect them if the security forces will be controlled by those who don’t want them is this country?
Firstly, Since when did democracy begin and end with elections ?
Democracy is about freedom of press,freedom of religion,protection of woman and minorities. The Muslim Brotherhood were changing the constitution and the Egyptian people didn’t want that.That is anti democratic.
You really showed how you were here to promote your propaganda with the use of the word “junta”.
What is hilarious is Why is the Irish Anti War Movement part of the pro Morsi rallies ? Why is Raymond Deane of the IPSC and other members of the IPSC (Ireland Palestinian Solidarity Campaign) ,Mags O’Brien of SIPTU and Richard Boyd Barrett TD all taking part in pro Morsi,pro Muslim Brotherhood rallies outside the Egyptian Embassy ?? What a weird alliance ? Or is it really ? The European HQ of the Muslim Brotherhood is in Clonskeagh ,Do they make “donations” to RICH Boy Barrett and the IPSC and the IAWM ?
A well presented article. Sadly it highlights the central problem in that region of the world which is that democracy as we accept it in Western society simply does not work there. There are too many ideologies and religious extremes in existence incapable of accepting a straight majority rule.
Couple that with the vested interests of Western powers in oil and military supplies and you have the instability which haunts the Middle East.
Can I offer a humble opinion as to a solution? Absolutely not. There is no one easy solution to the problems of governance in those countries, however, one small step,would be for the bigger Western Powers to stop interfering in their affairs.
Interesting article and it’s good that it scrutinises the numbers the coup’s supporters claimed came out in support of it, as these figures were always going to be exagerrated.
I think one of the key factors about whether you believe the coup was justified or not comes down to which definition of democracy you accept. If you believe that democracy is only about the ballot box, then obviously the coup was illegitimate. However, if you believe that democracy doesn’t end at election day, and should enshrine wider rights and respect for minorities, than you would probably believe that overall the overthrow of Morsi was a good thing.
This comes back to the Pew polls, that Colm Ó Bróin mentioned in his piece. Interestingly, a recent Pew Research Centre found that the Egyptian Muslim public are considerably less tolerant of religious pluralism than Muslims elsewhere.
The analysis found that:
“Egypt is one of the few countries where a clear majority (74%) of sharia supporters say both Muslims and non-Muslims in their country should be subject to Islamic law.”
The study also found that:
“Egyptian Muslims also back criminalizing apostasy, or leaving Islam for another religion. An overwhelming majority of Egyptian Muslims (88%), say converting away from Islam should be punishable by death. Among the 37 countries where the question was asked, a median of 28% of Muslims say apostates should be subject to the death penalty.”
So could it be argued that the government of Morsi, by giving Sharia Law more of a central role in the governance of Egypt, was actually reflecting what the Egyptian people wanted? Herein lies the paradox: it would seem that democracy, purely defined as an expression of the people’s will, can’t coincide with the rights-based interpretation of democracy, when the people’s will is to trample all over the rights of others.
Egypts peasant population are very much like the Irish were a century ago. Poor uneducated and deeply devout. They believe that their Imams can do no wrong and what ever they say must be right because these are very “educated” men. (very much the same way we used to see the parish priest). During the Election those self same Imams told the peasants who to vote for because it easy the peasants “right” thing to do. Now the fact that the MB were pouring money into building new mosques up and down the country I am sure had an impact on a devout population.
This is a good article, however we will never know what would have happened at the next election if the MB did not win, would they cede power? I doubt it very much. Michael Jansen has had some good stuff in the Irish times on their world view.
There probably would not have been a “next election” Michael.
Sorry – Denis.
Absolutely right. One man, one vote, one time. That’s the Islamist agenda.
Yer man on that poster looks like Gerry Adams!
Democracy demonstration of craziness
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