Before 5 childcare closure
Deputy O'Sullivan raised the closure of the Before 5 childcare service in Churchfield and the need for investment to reopen it. The Minister said he knew the service well, wanted to help, and would work with public bodies to support Northside Community Enterprises.
The Minister may be familiar with the Before 5 childcare service in Churchfield in Cork city, which closed last August.
Its closure left a big hole in the context of the provision of childcare on the north side of Cork city. Alternative childcare had to be sourced for nearly 100 children just weeks before school started again in September. Thankfully, Northside Community Enterprises stepped into the breach and put together a business case for the reopening of the facility. To meet all the regulatory standards, fire regulations and so on, significant investment in the building will be required. The group in question reckons that €360,000 will be needed. It is engaging with the Department of youth and integration and is looking at building block grants, SEAI grants and various other grants for the regeneration of the north side of the city. Nonetheless, some support will be required. I ask the Minister to take the matter up with the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman. I also ask him to liaise with the group to which I refer in order to ensure that it can get the facility viable and open once again.
Comment on this
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I am familiar with it, as he is aware. I visited Northside Community Enterprises on the old foreign affairs campus a few weeks ago, and the Deputy was there. We discussed the issue with members of the organisation in question. We are anxious to help because we recognise how important a role the service played when it was in place. We will work collectively as a Government and with the public bodies to do all we can to support the Northside Community Enterprises to get that facility up and running. I will liaise with my colleagues on that.