The Social Democrats, as part of their public system development agenda for early years education, have pledged to acquire small childcare centres to create a more affordable system for parents, with costs not exceeding €250 monthly. Their pre-election plan for Early Years Care & Education was disclosed in Dublin on Wednesday.
Jennifer Whitmore, the party’s representative for children’s affairs, stated that a Social Democrat government would channel an investment of €250 million into the existing scheme to decrease childcare costs to €250 per child monthly, through current care subsidy structures.
Taking a dual strategy, Ms Whitmore announced that the party would allocate €100 million every year from present budget surpluses towards the construction of new childcare facilities and the procurement of both vacant purpose-built sites and operational businesses.
The party’s initial estimates suggest that the annual expenditure to maintain 80 services that provide for roughly 6,000 children would be approximately €50 million, based on current salaries. They would also acquire operating businesses on a voluntary agreement, declared Ms Whitmore. The party also aspires to mandate that all new schools incorporate a childcare facility.
The Social Democrats argue in their childcare paper that smaller businesses are often sold off to large multinational corporations or capital management companies, prompting concerns over taxpayer funds being exploited for profit by investment funds, rather than being reinvested in services.
Addressing whether the Social Democrats would abolish private provision entirely, Ms Whitmore intimated that while the full implementation of their policies might still lead to some level of private provision, they would not back larger corporate establishments. Commenting on the issue, she suggested that the flaws in care services for both children and older people are due to excessive reliance on corporations to deliver key public services.
Definitely, they are not being considered in this policy. Our intention is to create a scheme in which the state operates childcare and early year services for the advantage of parents, children, and the personnel working in them.
The party’s argument draws on the model of Canada which reportedly implements stricter requirements for services-receivers of public funds; they must conform to principles in line with public provision.
As an outcome, multinational firms and investment funds show no interest in the Canadian childcare sector, as there is a limit on profit extraction. Clearly defined rules outline what parents must pay, and providers are obliged to disclose their staff payment details, according to the policy.
The policy further stated that if a business’s turnover, where 60 to 70% comes from taxpayer’s money, they should be prepared to discuss profit limits and staff working conditions with the government.