One of the major talking points of yesterday’s Budget was the provision of two weeks paternity leave, and the ECI has welcomed this as “a pathway towards a full one-year or combined maternity and parental leave”.
While the ECI lauded the amalgamation of the childcare subvention schemes, making the funding available to both community and private services, one area where they would have liked to have seen more Government investment and support was afterschool care. With a ‘disappointing’ allotment of €3 million to this area, the ECI believes that the increase in child benefit would have been better directed towards afterschool services.
One provision that was welcomed across the board yesterday was the allotment of an additional €15 million to supporting children with additional needs at preschool level, and the ECI has praised this major step forward by the Government.
“To date our members have received little or no help in this regard, with the extra time and cost of accommodating a child with additional needs falling on their shoulders, thus increasing the emotional and financial stress for families and for everyone involved. We welcome a fairer and more equitable approach in this regard and we look forward to hearing more details on that,” their representatives said.
Of course, a major talking point of yesterday’s Budget was the ECCE (free preschool) scheme. While the scheme has been welcomed by the ECI, they believe that much more work and information will be required in order to ensure a smooth introduction of the programme.
The ECI has classed the €64.50 capitation rate (per child, per week) as the “bare minimum” to deliver the scheme in full, while there is some disappointment over the fact that funding has not been extended to allow services to operate on a 48-week basis.
While the ECCE scheme will need to be delivered upon, and there is a lot of information to digest over the coming days, the ECI has said: “Overall, we would say that this budget positions us firmly on a longer term investment pathway towards quality, affordable and accessible early childhood care and education system that works for everyone, the parents, the early childhood educators, but especially for the children at the centre of it.”
