Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly has called on the Minister for Children to address concerns within the childcare sector relating to the core funding model.<\/p>\n
Deputy Farrelly, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on children, was commenting on reports today that a childcare provider had withdrawn a number of its Dublin-based services from the government\u2019s funding scheme.<\/p>\n
He said:<\/p>\n
\u201cI have recently met with parents and providers throughout the country. They all say the same thing \u2013 that the sector is facing significant challenges with regard to access, affordability, recruitment and retention.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first action I took when appointed spokesperson for children was to request the government to establish a special committee on the future of childcare and early years education. However, many months later, my request has still been ignored.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, I have heard that many childcare facilities are on the brink of closure because the core funding rates paid to them have failed to keep pace with rising operational costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need a plan for the implementation of a public model of childcare, one that includes decent pay for childcare workers. A good starting point for this would be the establishment of a special cross-party committee to develop a vision for the future of childcare in Ireland.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s time that this government faced the reality that childcare and early years education is a vital backbone of a properly functioning society. The Minister for Children must now engage with the childcare sector and resolve the issues being experienced with the core funding model.\u201d<\/p>\n
July 31, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly has called on the Minister for Children to address concerns within the childcare sector relating to the core funding model. Deputy Farrelly, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on children, was commenting on reports today that a childcare provider had withdrawn a number of its Dublin-based services from the government\u2019s funding […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11557,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[396,296,540,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aidan-farrelly","category-childcare","category-children","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n