For couples contemplating parenthood, one of the major costs to think about is childcare an industry which is underpaid, under-regulated and virtually unrecognised despite its crucial role in the welfare of children.

Recent governments have at last begrudgingly come around to examining the issues which can make modern family life seem like an expensive merry-go-round. The Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs' Commission on the Family produced its final report last week, recommending a £260 million annual investment package for pre-school children.

Meanwhile at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, a 78-member expert group, due to report by December, is examining the issues in a more focused way as part of a Partnership 2000 commitment.

The Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, is likely to introduce tax relief measures for childcare expenses in his 1999 Budget on foot of that report.

But the whole area, as it stands, is complex, muddled, and often coloured by the publicity surrounding high-profile court cases such as those involving au pair Louise Woodward, and more recently childminder Helen Stacey.

There are 11 government departments involved in child welfare, according to Ms Irene Gunning, training co-ordinator of the Irish Pre-School Playgroups Association (IPPA) and a member of the Department of Justice's expert group. "What everyone is screaming for and calling for is co-ordination," she says.

The group is examining the issue of quality, affordable and accessible childcare. This will involve a national register, training considerations and employment and resourcing implications. The underlying theme is quality of access and participation, says a member of the group's secretariat. "All children should have a right to access a childcare service," she says.

The Commission on the Family revealed that one in three children of pre-school age have periods of care outside their own home. A childminding arrangement, where the children go to the home of their carer, is the most common form of extra-parental care for those aged up to one year. "Creches and nurseries become more important for parents with children aged two to three years. Almost 20 per cent of children (21,600) attend a nursery, creche or other pre-school service," the commission states.

But depending on their needs and what they believe is best for their child, parents can opt for a nanny or childminder, either on a day care or live-in basis, children can go to the home of their carer, or parents may choose one of the forms of pre-school out-of-home centres variously described as creches, playschools or nurseries.

Prof Tim Callan of the Economic & Social Research Institute, a commission member, refers to the gap between State expenditure on under-fives, which is zero and the annual £1,400 spent on each child attending primary school. For three-year-olds and under, Prof Callan says that "the Commission is proposing a target level of about £1,000 per child".

Childcare costs are significant. A weekly fee of £65 in a creche, amounts to £3,380 a year. And that is in addition to other child-related costs such as an estimated £1,600 on food, clothing, extra health insurance and ancillary items pushing the total bill to almost £5,000.

One working mother of three says the creche option is an important one for the first child because of the social interaction provided. But with two or three children it makes more sense to have a nanny. In addition to the wages paid to a nanny, such care involves hidden costs such as lighting and heating the child's home during the day.

"Certainly any parent of young children you talk to will say that their biggest abiding concern in relation to work is that their children are happy and well cared for.

"They can cope with all the juggling and all of that business, but if you are worried about the children, you cannot hack it after that," she says.