Inadequate investment in early education has resulted in high childcare costs to parents and low wages for workers, according to IMPACT. In a submission to the Department of Children and Youth Affairs in relation to its ‘single affordable childcare scheme,’ the union says Irish parents pay some of the highest childcare costs in the world, while most people working in the sector don’t even earn a living wage.

The union is currently establishing an early education branch and recently joined forces with the Association of Childhood Professionals to campaign for professionalisation and better pay in the sector.

In its submission, IMPACT warned that the scheme maintains the existing market model of early education, which is built on poor wages and working conditions. The paper contains a number of recommendations including:

• Investment in early education and childcare should be increased to OECD average levels within five years, and should meet the UNICEF 1% target within ten years
• A national early years strategy should be developed as a matter of urgency
• There should be a cap on parental fees
• Salary scales should be agreed and based on qualifications, and payment of agreed rates should be a condition of public funding
• Paid parental leave should be introduced for either parent to allow children to be cared for at home between the age of six months and one year
• The scheme should be extended to childminders who meet quality requirements.

IMPACT also requested a meeting with the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs and members of the design team to discuss the development of the single affordable childcare scheme.

Read the IMPACT submission here.