“We Can’t Provide a Quality Service on Shoestrings”: Irish Practitioners Perspectives on the ECCE Scheme (2010)

Abstract

There is a general disquiet in the Irish Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) sector about the sustainability of initiatives and best practice guidelines in the context of low status, pay and investment. The ECCE Scheme (2010; DCYA, 2018b) provided access to three hours of “free” ECCE for children aged 2.8 years who could continue to avail of the ECCE until they reached 5.6 years old (DCYA, 2018b). Ireland, under the Barcelona Summit (2002), was obliged to provide increased access to ECCE to (European Commission, 2008) to increase women’s participation in the labour market (European Commission, 2008). However, the introduction of the ECCE scheme (2010) contributed to already existing structural and financial challenges in the provision of quality ECCE. To explore parental and practitioners’ experiences of the scheme, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 practitioners and 15 parents. Findings reveal that the scheme seems to have been unsuccessful in supporting practitioners in meeting quality standards, the costs associated with the introduction of the scheme as well as in meeting the needs of working parents for accessible ECCE.