Sir, – We are members of the Together for Public Alliance, a campaign group of more than 40 organisations brought together by the National Women’s Council, representing women’s and men’s groups, children’s rights groups, academics, trade unions, equality and human rights groups, and anti-poverty groups, all united in our call for a public system of early childhood education and care in Ireland.
As negotiations to form a new government come toward their conclusion, we are once again reiterating our call for a commitment to introduce a public system of early childhood education and care (ECEC), including the rollout of publicly-delivered services alongside community and private provision, to be included within the new programme for government.
A public system of ECEC is essential to address fundamental issues within the sector. International experience has demonstrated that public ECEC delivers better outcomes for children, supports families and women’s participation in all facets of society, and ensures fair pay and conditions for educators. These models provide a wealth of evidence and practical experience which Ireland can draw upon.
This is not a new conversation. The need for reform has been extensively consulted on and well-documented, with stakeholders consistently highlighting the benefits of a public system. Now is the time to drive forward the delivery of these promises through a bold and decisive programme for government.
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Recognising the commitments made by Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and others in their manifestos in the recent election, we believe the next programme for government should: establish an implementation group to introduce a public system of ECEC through addressing affordability, access, and conditions for educators, guaranteeing ECEC and school-age childcare through legislation from the age families need it; invest in a publicly delivered ECEC system, with 30,000 new public places delivered by 2030; cap fees for families at €200 per month and provide additional supports for low-income families; assume State responsibility for staff wages, and in doing so guarantee fair pay and conditions for early years educators, aligned with their skills, qualifications and experience.
The Together for Public Alliance is eager to support these efforts and to work with the new Government to ensure the successful implementation of a system of high-quality early childhood education and care that is universal, accessible, inclusive and affordable for all children, women and families. – Yours, etc,
ORLA O’CONNOR,
Director,
National Women’s Council Ireland;
Dr SALOME MBUGUA,
CEO,
AkiDwA – The Migrant Women’s Network Ireland,
Dublin 1;
DEARBHÁIL LAWLESS,
CEO,
Aontas,
Dublin 6;
NIERA BELACY,
Project Manager,
Amal Women Association,
Dublin 8;
KIERAN CHRISTIE,
General Secretary,
ASTI,
Dublin 8;
MARIAN QUINN,
CEO,
Childhood Development Initiative, Dublin;
TIM HANLEY,
Coordinator,
Community Platform, Dublin;
RACHEL DOYLE,
National Director,
Community Work Ireland,
Co Galway;
VALERIE GAYNOR,
Manager,
Creative Kids & Co,
Dublin 12;
BRONAGH DUFF,
Provider,
Creative Kids Early Learning Centre,
Dublin 12;
Prof MATHIAS URBAN,
Early Childhood Research Centre,
Dublin City University,
Dublin 9;
KARAN O’LOUGHLIN,
General Secretary,
Energy Service Union (of Ireland),
Dublin 2;
PAUL GINNELL,
Director,
European Anti-Poverty Network Ireland, Dublin;
FERGAL LANDY,
CEO,
Family Resource Centre National Forum,
Co Galway;
MEHAK DUGAL,
Communications and Campaigns Officer,
Fórsa Trade Union,
Dublin 1;
DAVID JOYCE,
Equality Officer,
Irish Congress of Trade Unions,
Dublin 1;
BUKKY ADEBOWALE,
Policy Education Officer,
Irish Network Against Racism,
Dublin 1;
REBECCA GORMAN,
Head of Policy and Media,
Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed,
Dublin 1;
MAEVE McCAFFERTY,
Senior Official/Equality Officer
Education, Equality, Research and Learning,
National Teachers’ Organisation,
Dublin 1;
PHIL NÍ SHEAGHDHA,
General Secretary,
Irish Nurses Midwives Organisation,
Dublin 7;
JACINTA BRACK,
Coordinator of Communications,
Political Advocacy and Campaigns,
Irish Traveller Movement,
Dublin 2;
MINNA MURPHY,
Early Education Provider,
Kildinan Preschool,
Co Cork;
FRANCES HAWORTH,
CEO,
Meath Women’s Refuge & Support Services,
Co Meath;
SEÁN COOKE,
CEO,
Men’s Development Network CLG,
Co Waterford;
BILL ABOM,
Co-director,
Migrant Rights Centre Ireland,
Dublin 1;
MARIA JOYCE,
Coordinator,
National Traveller Women’s Forum,
Dublin 1;
KAREN KIERNAN,
CEO,
One Family Ireland,
Dublin 7;
MARTIN COLLINS,
Co-Director,
Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre,
Dublin 1;
Dr SHEILA GARRITY,
Chair of PLÉ and
Assistant Professor,
School of Education,
University of Galway,
Co Galway;
DARRAGH O’CONNOR,
Head of Strategic Organising and Campaigns,
Siptu,
Dublin 1;
LEAH SPEIGHT,
Spark (Single Parents Acting for the Rights of Kids), Dublin;
ELAINE McQUILLAN,
CEO,
StartBright,
Dublin 22;
LOUISE BAYLISS,
Head of Social Justice and Policy,
The Society of Saint Vincent de Paul,
Dublin 1;
DAMIEN PEELO,
CEO,
Treoir,
Dublin 1;
TARYN TRAINOR,
Regional Women’s and Equalities Officer,
Unite the Union,
Dublin 1;
KATIE DEEGAN,
Communications Coordinator,
Women For Election,
Dublin 7;
SARAH BENSON,
CEO,
Women’s Aid,
Dublin 2;
LILY FOX,
Communications Co-ordinator,
221+ Patient Support Group,
Dublin 4.
Ireland’s central role in the EU
Sir, – The central idea of Finn McRedmond’s piece “Ireland cannot rely on a soft and woolly international reputation anymore”, Opinion, January 9th) is that Ireland’s reputation has fallen dramatically in the EU and elsewhere, and that an immediate exercise in remediation is necessary.
Brussels faces many problems during this new mandate but Ireland is not one of them. The EU is dealing with Trump 2.0, wars on its doorstep and Eurosceptic governments in Hungary, Slovakia and, possibly, Austria, not to mention the looming threat of the far-right in Germany and France.
Brussels is dealing with major geopolitical threats from Russia and China and its main focus is ensuring competitiveness for European businesses and security. Ireland’s soon to be re-elected centrist government is seen as a reliable ally in the challenges ahead and many of those tipped for reappointed to cabinet are well experienced in dealing with colleagues at a European level.
It is true to say that “Golfgate” was damaging and self-inflicted, and perhaps Phil Hogan will feel most betrayed by his own party in relation to that; that Ireland does need to do more when it comes to security and defence, and that we need to increase the number of Irish officials working in the EU institutions. To say that this accumulates to Ireland’s reputation “tanking” is a stretch to say the very least. The Politico article Ms McRedmond refers to relies for its claims on Irish officials in Brussels who are critical of the number of cabinet jobs secured for Irish officials in Brussels. However, another source concluded that “Ireland hadn’t fared any worse than other small countries”.
Finn McRedmond quotes Dr Eoin Drea as stating that Michael McGrath’s nomination “shows just how far Ireland’s stock has fallen in Brussels”. Yet it is the Irish Commissioner who will lead work on the EU’s proposed Democracy Shield, something that looks more and more important with every tweet sent by Elon Musk. – Yours, etc,
BARRY ANDREWS MEP,
(Dublin constituency),
European Parliament,
Brussels.
Fraud and bank customers
Sir, – Prevention really is better than cure when it comes to fraud (Conor Lally, “Volume of banking fraud cases rises sharply, leaving Garda with backlog of thousands”, News, January 10th) as Irish consumers are more exposed than their counterparts in other English-speaking countries. Bank of Ireland has put forward a four-point plan to Government to prevent fraudsters from targeting Irish consumers in the first instance. New legislation is needed to introduce tools that are common in other countries, such as a shared fraud database that allows service providers (businesses) to share information on confirmed fraud attempts, and an SMS (text message) scam filter to weed out mass-sent fraudulent text messages. As consumers become more weary of fake emails and SMSs, criminals are now exploiting social media and search engines companies to advertise fake investments and products directly to consumers.
New EU legislation is needed to prevent this proliferation of scam investments and purchases online.
It is our hope that these common sense interventions will be prioritised so that all Irish consumers are better protected from fraud. – Yours, etc,
NICOLA SADLIER,
Head of Fraud,
Bank of Ireland,
Dublin 4.
Immersion learning
Sir, – Returning from a timely winter sun holiday to a freezing house, I heard myself saying words to the children that I never could have imagined. “Did nobody think of putting on the immersion?” – Yours, etc,
DAVID CURRAN,
Knocknacarra,
Galway.
Are we serious about defence?
Sir, – Conor Gallagher’s article “Naval ship goes to sea without working gun” (News, January 11th) highlights once again the ongoing unaddressed crisis of retention in the Naval Service. Despite many warnings regarding the loss of key personnel and the consequences of such, very little has been delivered to address the crisis.
By improving technical pay and allowances, and by introducing loyalty bonuses, progress could be made.
It would appear that our current defence policy consists of neglect and abject failure with little interest by government in addressing the crisis. The lack of a full-time Minister for Defence certainly doesn’t help.
Will the next government deliver what is required to ensure that the Defence Forces are fit for purpose?
I very much doubt it. – Yours, etc,
CONOR HOGARTY,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – Your headline “Naval ship goes to sea without working gun” reminds of an apocryphal news report: “The Irish Air Corps will not fly today. He is sick.”– Yours, etc,
DOMHNALL Ó BROIN,
Lisburn,
Co Antrim.
Sir, – That Ireland’s 450,000 km2 Exclusive Economic Zone is patrolled by a single ship, whose main gun doesn’t work, gives a laser insight the government’s deluded all mouth and no trousers defence policy. – Yours, etc,
Dr JOHN DOHERTY,
Gaoth Dobhair,
Co Dhún na nGall.
Public service and buying a house
Sir, – John Fitzgerald (“Higher pay for public service staff to afford homes should be time limited and phased out”, Business, Opinion, January 10th) makes the point, inter alia, that higher paid public servants are earning less than their counterparts in the private sector. He also signals that moving away from the traditional model of public service pay could imperil the relative peace in terms of industrial relations which we have enjoyed in recent decades.
One change that could certainly be made in the public service pay regime is to considerably shorten the journey to the top of the relevant pay scales. This distance in many cases is over a decade long and reflects an era when on-the-job training was a major factor and intensive third-level education preparation was not always present.
This factor alone negatively disadvantages young public servants in their efforts to obtain a mortgage as they must compete against others whose pay scales reflect a sprint distance rather than a semi-marathon. – Yours, etc,
JOHN O’MAHONY,
Renmore,
Galway.
Cartoon time
Sir, – While I always enjoy Martyn Turner’s cartoons, I feel he slightly missed the target on Saturday (January 11th). His cartoon depicted Teddy Roosevelt and Donald Trump and suggested that the word that was associated with both of them was bully –”bully for you” and “bully – as in XL American” for Mr Trump. Linking them does a disservice to President Roosevelt for several reasons. He was a Progressive Republican, who was focussed on limiting the power of the industrial conglomerates in their attempts to take control of water for irrigation and hydro power, coal and mining, and forests for timber and grazing land. In this he was ably assisted by his chief forester, Gifford Pinchot. He was also one of the US presidents who is remembered as a great conservationist who protected over 200 millions of acres of land as national forests, national parks and monuments for the American people, not for the elite few. This is very different from the incoming president who is allying himself with some very dubious elites who want to see no control on their activities and are determined to row back on much of the environmental legislation – the Clean Air and Water Acts, the Endangered Species Act, Wilderness Acts, etc – enacted since the mid-1960s. The incoming president is a climate-change denier; he believes that there should be more drilling for oil and gas in Alaska (and probably Greenland) and chooses not to see the writing on the wall – the increased strength of hurricanes and bigger and more intense wildfires – when it comes to climate change.
President Roosevelt had many faults but compared to the incoming occupant of the White House, there is no comparison. – Yours, etc,
BILL MURPHY,
Greystones,
Co Wicklow.
Nuance and ambiguity
Sir, – Jessica Freed’s letter on disrupters and misinformation is timely (January 11th).
There is, regrettably one must say, also a tendency for individuals to anoint themselves as experts in complex and nuanced fields. Debates on open issues are often shut down by declaring definitive conclusions in areas where the evidence simply does not permit such certainty.
This intellectual complacency and lack of curiosity is disappointing and it is often coupled with a strange reluctance to entertain the possibility of ambiguity.
This approach undermines meaningful discourse and trivialises the importance of rigorous, open-minded inquiry, which is essential for addressing all of the intricate challenges of our time. – Yours, etc,
REAMONN O’LUAN,
Churchtown,
Dublin 14.
Special-needs assistants
Sir, – In relation to the findings of a report on the attitudes of school leaders towards special-needs assistants (SNAs), it is concerning that many of our leaders in education view the additional care SNAs provide as a “motherly role” (“Tension between teachers and special-needs assistants flagged in official report”, Education, January 10th).
Perhaps it says more about our society that a job empowering children in with additional needs in self-care is dependent on “motherly” traits.
Among the dynamic, diverse, well-educated male and female colleagues I work with, there is little desire to be a surrogate parent. Instead I see a group of diverse individuals who are passionate about promoting independence and inclusion with the gratitude of supportive teachers. – Is mise,
JENNIFER LITTLE,
Dublin 4.