The costs of childcare in Ireland are among the highest in Europe, and appear to be rising, according to a major new OECD report.
Although children here have a legal entitlement to a free service from the age of four, the report notes that most countries provide all children with at least two years of free publicly funded childcare before they begin primary schooling. In fact, with the exception of Ireland and The Netherlands, such access is generally a statutory right from the age of three, the report states.
Starting Strong II, published yesterday by the Paris-based organisation, also states that the childcare sector here is largely unregulated, particularly when it comes to training of staff, with many having no formal preparation for their role.
The report highlights how countries such as Ireland, Korea, Portugal and the UK - countries with comparably low public expenditure on children's services in the past - have increased spending significantly in recent years.
But it says shortcomings still exist, particularly for children under the age of three years.
As the childcare sector is mainly private, parental fees are the major source of funding of services, it continues. Costs to Irish parents for children aged up to three years correspond to 30 per cent of the disposable income of the average double-income family, unless children are in community care where childcare subsidies exist.
The major services offered to parents here include unregulated childminding, and regulated family daycare and nurseries. However, the report notes that regulated outside-school provision does not exist in Ireland. The report also notes that funding of publicly financed services for children under three years and outside-school provision was 0.007 per cent of GDP in 2002.