Shortage of childcare in Laois raised in the Dail

IN a recent address to the Dail, Independent Republican TD Brian Stanley raised the issue of access to affordable childcare.

According to figures cited by Mr Stanley from the childcare committee, the average cost of childcare in Laois is €800 per month … though he also claims to have come across quotations as high as €1400 a month. The TD said:

“The shortage of places is the other issue and there are several blackspots across the county, Parents just cannot get access to childcare. According to the local childcare committee towns such as Portlaoise, Portarlington, Mountmellick, Mountrath, Graiguecullen, Rathdowney, Abbeyleix, Durrow, Arles and Ballylinan are short of all-day provision. Some have no all-day provision at all and Mountrath is losing its ECCE preschool this month, which is unfortunate.” 

Stanley said that while the government has expressed its desire to see the population increase in Laois - 25 per cent over the four to five years - that, as matters stand, there is not the infrastructure of childcare to actually facilitate this growth in a sustainable way. He advised that the government needed to move with greater urgency on planned cuts saying that, at the current rate, the government plan to reduce monthly fees to €200 would take over a decade:

“Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael promised to reduce monthly fees to €200, but we are a long way from that. There is a planned reduction in September of €14.30 per month, but at that rate it would take 14 or 15 years to actually get to that reduction planned by the Government!” 

The Independent TD welcomed the government's plan to invest €135 million over four years to provide directly purchased, state-led buildings and childcare facilities, but also highlighted that the issue of wages and staff recruitment and retention needed to be addressed.

“A career in childcare has to be seen as a viable one for young people. It has to be made attractive. We need to reduce the bureaucracy and the volume of administration for the small private providers. Overall, the State has to become the provider of childcare. We have to follow what is done in other EU states. We need a State-led system.”