Sinn Féin spokesperson on Children Kathleen Funchion TD has today launched a campaign to lower childcare fees.

The Carlow/Kilkenny TD is calling on parents to complete Sinn Féin’s online survey and to share their childcare stories, which she will collate and present to government in a bid to highlight the real impact that high childcare costs are having on families across the state.

Speaking this morning, Teachta Funchion said:

“Childcare fees are too high and wages are too low. That is the reality that we hear daily from parents and workers in the childcare sector. 

“Prolonged underinvestment by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael has led to Ireland sleepwalking into a privately-run and expensive system that cripples ordinary working families.

“We know that parents feel let down by the current system. Many women are locked out of the workplace because childcare fees are too high.

“Our campaign ‘My Childcare Story’ aims to give a voice to those experiences and to lay them bare to government.

“Covid-19 has added considerable additional strain and challenges, but it also presents us with an opportunity to completely overhaul the current broken childcare system. 

“The reality is that there can be no economic recovery without a childcare system that works for all.

“That is why the voices of parents are so important, and why policy-makers must understand the real life implications for getting this wrong.

“I urge parents to engage with this campaign. Tell us your childcare story by completing the survey at surveymonkey.com/r/sfchildcarefees or by emailing kathleen.funchion@oireachtas.ie.”