Tens of thousands of childcare workers took to Dublin's streets this afternoon to demand the Government fix an industry at "breaking point".
An estimated 30,000 angry protesters marched from Parnell Square to Merrion Square as part of the Together for Early Years campaign.
At a rally just a stone's throw from the Dail, fed up early years professionals who travelled from all over the country called for an increase in wages and an end to sky high fees for parents.
Creche worker Maria Marron told Dublin Live she made the journey from Co Louth because she is finding it harder to make ends meet on her current wage.
She said: "We want to be respected and be given fair pay and to be recognised.
"As some of the signs say, we teach respect so we want respect now. We want to be heard and we want more put into the early years sector."
Paula Donohue, owner of Clever Clogs Childcare in Ballyconnell, Co Cavan, told Dublin Live the childcare sector in Ireland is seriously underfunded in comparison with the rest of Europe.
She said: "Currently we're spending 0.2% of GDP where the European average is 0.8% so we're really lagging behind UNICEF's recommendation of 1%."
She added that she felt childcare employers and employees were not being properly consulted on the best way to reform the industry.
"They're not giving us proper and appropriate consultation.
"They're paying lip service to it and then going on with policies that are driving this sector to the breaking point it has finally reached."
With many creches closing for the day to allow their staff attend the march, parents had to make alternative childcare arrangements for the day.
But Paula said the parents were fully supportive of the decision to close, with one generous dad even paying out €550 for a bus for the staff to travel down in.
She said: "That was him and his wife saying thank you to us and supporting us in a way that was practical.
"We've had money sent in to help us buy breakfast, we've had chocolates and biscuits for the bus and we've had a myriad of text and email messages to say that everyone is behind us.
"That's 150 parents with not one dissenting voice."
SIPTU Head of Strategic Organising and Campaigns, Darragh O’Connor, said the huge turnout sent a clear message that "poverty pay" in the childcare industry must end.
He added: “There is a real crisis in childcare. More than 60% of educators earn less than the Living Wage of €12.30 per hour and parents are paying some of the highest fees in Europe.
"The next Government has a choice. Will it continue with a failing service that is in crisis or will it invest in a new system that delivers for parents, educators, providers and children?”
And Federation of Early Childhood Providers Chairperson, Elaine Dunne vowed today's protest was "just the beginning" with further action planned if their demands aren't met.
She said: "We are in this for the long haul. The turnout exceeded all expectations and it underlines how passionately providers, educators and parents feel about the need for immediate change."
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