Childcare shortages and crèche closures
Deputy Bacik raised a constituency crèche closure and the broader national shortage of childcare places, including very large waiting lists. The Taoiseach said funding had increased substantially, most services were in core funding and the goal was universal access, with more to be pursued in the next budget.
Yesterday, I raised with the Taoiseach the issue of crèche closures and the lack of childcare places. I have corresponded with the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, on the specific issue of a crèche closure in my constituency. This closure is indicative of a much broader problem, namely, that there is a real shortage of childcare and crèche places for families throughout the country. I was contacted by a family last week who were shocked to discover that their local childcare facility has a waiting list of in excess of 400. In the mums' WhatsApp group, the mother involved was advised that she should have reserved her child's place before she was 12 weeks' pregnant if she wanted to secure a spot in the facility. This situation indicates the severe shortage of childcare facilities across the country. Will the changes being introduced by Government, which we have welcomed as they move us towards a more secure and publicly funded service, lead to a guaranteed preschool place for every child? Will we see the sort of equal approach to early years childcare that Labour has been advocating for so long?
Comment on this
There has been a very significant increase in funding, particularly in the past two to three years. More than 4,000 services have signed up for core funding. That equates to 93% of all eligible services. The aim is to get to a position where every child will be able to access a place in a crèche or childcare facility. We want to continue to advance this agenda in next year's budget in order to increase provision and achieve the targets Deputy Bacik has outlined.