The call from Ollie Sheehan of Mary Geary's Childcare in Carrigtwohill comes as the Government is expected to announce the end of the 'play pod system' in childcare services this week along with the end of the EWSS payments at the end of May
Childcare providers say they urgently need supports to sustain childcare into the future in order to be able to cope with challenges around staffing and uncertainty over funding
Ollie Sheehan says the Government's delay in announcing details of the new funding model announced in the Budget last year is also adding to the huge levels of uncertainty
Speaking to RedFM News Ollie Sheehan from Mary Geary's Childcare says he hopes the Government will move to quickly address the issues facing the sector:
"If someone goes to college for three, four years and they come out, and that that level of pay isn't reflected, then they're thinking, right, you know what, I'm going somewhere else or something, right? Now we are hopeful that there will be steps made. I mean, at the end of the day to, it's a business and it's got to pay its way. And I know a lot of providers with the removal of the EWSS and other things, that that there will be a lot of people struggling, because as well as it say, for example, they may have given payrises or they may have taken on extra staff. And now that these supports are disappearing, you know, from an economic point of view, is it possible to continue to justify those."
