A publicly run childcare system is the only “commonsense solution to the childcare crisis currently engulfing the country”, the National Women’s Council (NWC) has said.
The organisation wants such a system to be trialled alongside the current model which is based on 4,600 privately run services, more than 90 per cent of them in receipt of Government funding intended to help cover their costs.
The organisation made the call after it emerged that a number of private providers had decided to pull some or all of their services from the Government-backed Core Funding scheme and substantially increase the fees they charge to parents. Others have threatened to follow suit.
“Many parents will face tough decisions about whether to pay the fees or leave work and take on childcare themselves,” said the NWC. “In the vast majority of cases, women will be the ones making this decision.”
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The organisation acknowledged a publicly run system would take time to develop but said the Government should establish a pilot scheme in the budget with a view to taking direct control of provision over the longer term.
“A public system of early childhood education and care, akin to our primary school system, is the only sustainable solution for the future,” said the NWC’s care officer, Eilish Balfe, who previously worked in the sector.
“In 2021 the Government spent €638 million on childcare. Despite doubling the investment, the crisis keeps growing. They need to change tactics,” she said.
“Government could pilot a public scheme in Budget 2025, alongside continued support for private provision so that there is no cliff-edge for parents, children or providers.”
Though the number of services to confirm they would be withdrawing from the Core Funding scheme is small to date, hundreds of families could be affected by the fallout from a dispute between the Department for Children and a portion of providers unhappy over the scale of the Government backing provided, the ability to raise the fees charged to parents and increased regulation.
Many more parents will not know until after the registration process for the scheme’s third year is complete in the coming weeks whether their provider has definitely signed up.
In a statement, the department said the amount of money available to providers through Core Funding would increase by 15 per cent this year while there would also be improvements to targeted supports.
“Services are encouraged to avail of these supports as an alternative to withdrawing from Core Funding and removing the benefit of Core Funding to children and their families,” it said, but added “services have the autonomy to make the decision that to withdraw is of greater value to them than committing to offering services under the conditions and investment levels on offer through Core Funding”.
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