Debate contribution: Childcare Strategy

Debate contribution by Mr Pat Sheehan on 3 November 2025.

MLA

Mr Pat Sheehan

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

3 November 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Childcare Strategy

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5213753

Read the official Assembly record

Text

First of all, I want to deal with an issue that has been raised twice today in the Chamber, namely the Minister's SEN capital plan and the fact that the Executive have not offered him any money yet. The Audit Office brought out two reports — the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) also brought out reports — that stated that neither the Education Department nor the Education Authority (EA) can demonstrate value for money. When the permanent secretary of the Department was at the Committee recently, I asked him what had changed since those reports came out, and he said, "Well, we are working together more closely". When I asked the chief executive of the Education Authority whether it had identified any efficiencies or wastage, his answer was no. If the Department and the EA cannot manage their current budgets, why on earth would anybody want to give them more money? In any event, I just wanted to deal with that issue. The delivery of affordable childcare is a clear commitment in the Programme for Government and a key priority of the Executive. Families already struggle with the cost of living. Affordable childcare would be life-changing for many of them. It would help parents get back into work and give children the best start in life. That is why our party delivered over £75 million in funding to help deliver high-quality and affordable childcare and early years provision. That money was directly allocated to the Education Minister with a clear expectation that it would make childcare more affordable, support struggling providers and finally deliver the long-overdue early learning and childcare strategy. Yet, despite almost £80 million having been spent, in many cases, families continue to pay the equivalent of a second mortgage for their childcare. There has been no strategy and no real reduction in bills, as providers continue to raise fees due to the scale of the costs with which they are dealing. Hard-pressed families need a break. When we eventually see a strategy from the Minister, if he remains in post, there must also be a clear commitment to the Irish-medium early years and childcare sector. That sector faces acute challenges and remains chronically under-resourced. Many Irish-medium early years settings are forced to create their own learning materials, fundraise to buy resources and operate with limited access to Irish-speaking SEN support staff or allied health professionals. Those are among the reasons why I have brought forward a private Member's Bill that will place a statutory duty on the Department of Education to prepare and review an Irish-medium education workforce plan every five years. The Bill will ensure that the Department finally takes responsibility for recruiting and retaining the staff that our Irish-medium schools and early years settings need. I urge all Members to support the Bill when it comes to the Floor. The Minister must now do what he has failed to do to date: publish a childcare strategy that delivers affordability, sustainability and inclusion for all families, including those in the Irish-medium sector, and for children with special educational needs or disabilities.

514 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:47 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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