Debate contribution: Childcare Providers: Funding

Debate contribution by Ms Sinéad McLaughlin on 21 January 2025.

MLA

Ms Sinéad McLaughlin

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

21 January 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Childcare Providers: Funding

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4749573

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. As we approach the first anniversary of the restoration of the Assembly, I am glad to see that childcare is still regarded as a priority by all parties in the House. Throughout the past year, we have debated the issue many times, and, in February, all parties agreed that we needed to do more to support the childcare sector. Progress has been made. For the first time, childcare is a stand-alone priority in the draft Programme for Government (PFG). The Northern Ireland childcare subsidy scheme has delivered savings to parents, and I welcome the allocation of £50 million of funding for childcare. Those victories are in no small part thanks to the hard work of stakeholders and parents who have campaigned passionately on the issue. Whilst all those measures are rightly welcomed in the motion, the DUP merely patting itself on the back for the work of its Minister will do little to support the families who still struggle to stay afloat. The Minister must surely recognise that the scale of delivery on childcare by his Department falls short of the expectations of parents across our communities. Whilst I agree that it is unfortunate that the Department for the Economy and Invest NI have not finished the scoping exercise necessary to inform the design of the targeted business scheme for childcare providers, using a motion to score political points across the Chamber, while sitting around the same Executive table, is not the best way to go about that. I was tempted to leave the DUP motion unamended so that the public could see the special type of arrogance that it takes to blame another Executive Minister for the DUP's lack of delivery. It was really tempting to let the mud-slinging commence, but I could not do that because childcare is so important and our families are experiencing such hardship because of the lack of urgency on delivery. The ink is barely dry on the draft Programme for Government, and the infighting and finger-pointing is under way between Ministers. The blame game is on, and it is the fault of everyone except, of course, the Minister in charge of childcare. Failing to take responsibility for the issue at hand is by no means an adequate answer. Parents and providers are not interested in the political games; they have no time for them. In fact, yesterday evening, Melted Parents NI took to social media and said:

"enough is enough — survival mode isn't enough anymore."

They said that, despite promises and priorities from the Northern Ireland Executive, the childcare crisis is getting worse. They said that they are tired of party politics and blame and that they wanted their politicians to get together and fix the problem. Parents and families across the Province are interested in their bills going down and their children getting the best start in life. That is why we propose the amendment, which calls out the current failings of the Education Minister. The reality that parents and providers face is one that the Assembly should be ashamed of. I am told time and again by constituents that they still struggle to cope with the rise in childcare costs. Whilst the Northern Ireland childcare subsidy scheme (NICSS) was a welcome intervention and has achieved some tangible successes, it is by no means the answer to the childcare crisis. The reduction in childcare fees through the NICSS has practically become null and void — redundant — as providers have been forced to increase their fees in order to deal with rising external costs and the lack of targeted support. Furthermore, the scheme is not available to all parents, which means that those who need support most are often those who cannot access it at all. The Department must undertake a serious, comprehensive and ongoing assessment of the scheme to ensure that it delivers the changes that are needed and reduces bills for parents. The responsibility for that assessment falls squarely on the shoulders of the Education Minister, and it would be wrong to try to shift the Chamber's focus to the Economy Minister on that issue. The business support scheme taken forward by the Minister is not a silver bullet that can meet the needs of all providers. We need to be much more ambitious and to stay focused on the priority in hand; namely, the delivery of a 10-year early learning and childcare strategy. Our ambition with the strategy must not be limited, and we must be transformational in our approach. Parents must be free of the burden of those awful costs. Businesses need greater support, and registered childminders must be allowed to expand their services. In October, the SDLP launched our childcare policy, 'A Childcare Guarantee', which set out how, we believe, the childcare strategy can best support parents and providers. We call for affordability for parents through the halving of costs, ensuring that nobody pays more than they can afford; sustainability for providers through a new funding scheme that allows businesses to provide childcare in a sustainable manner; and the best start in life for children through a new independent body that will be tasked with the development and oversight of a 10-year childcare strategy. Almost a year has passed in the mandate, and the strategy has still not been produced. It has been worked on for years. Parents and providers really cannot afford to wait any longer. I invite the Minister, through the amendment, to set a clear deadline for the publication of the strategy along with a transparent, long-term funding plan. The funding plan must meet the scale of the challenge that we face and provide the opportunity that we need to transform and make life changes. For too long, the Executive have considered the funding of childcare as merely an expenditure. It is long past time to change our approach and consider investing in our childcare sector as an investment in our social and economic infrastructure. We have said many times that we should look towards countries that lead the way in that approach, including Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway; indeed, if we look closer to home, we find that the incoming Irish Government are committing to progressively reducing the costs of childcare to €200 per child per month. That approach to childcare has created a double dividend: it has kept childcare fees low whilst growing the economy. We appreciate that public finances are tight, but, as a start, the Minister of Finance must ring-fence the Barnett consequentials received from increased spending on childcare in Britain. Doing so will provide the sector with a further £61 million-plus of funding. Transforming our childcare sector will not be easy, but it is paramount not only for the future of our children but for our economic development. I urge the Assembly to support our amendment, which recognises the work that is still left to be done by the Minister of Education and the Minister for the Economy. It is a whole-Executive policy, and it must be met by the whole of the Executive, including through publication of the strategy. As we go forward, let us seize the opportunity to invest in our future generations and support their education and development. Our children are definitely our future, and, by taking this bold action now, we can ensure that they will continue to have the best start in life for generations to come.

1,240 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:47 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

Disagree with this assessment?

Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.

Challenge this classification