Ghost creches are a visible indictment of the Government’s chronic failure to get to grips with the shortage of childcare places. Built by developers to fulfil a condition of their planning permission for large residential developments, many of them now stand idle, the Oireachtas Committee for Children was reminded this week by bodies representing the childcare sector.
Many of these facilities are compliant with planning but either do not meet standards set by the regulator, Tusla, or are not commercially viable for an independent operator. Many have subsequently been converted into office space or gyms.
The precise number of idle or unusable units is unknown. But the providers who appeared before the committee testified that it was substantial and contributes to the national shortfall in places, estimated to be between 20,000 and 30,000. One provider referred to “massive numbers” of ghost creches in Dublin.
The fact that there is no figure for ghost creches or even for the national shortfall in childcare places speaks to the laissez faire approach to childcare of successive governments. But it must be noted the sector itself was ambivalent about regulation due to its historically informal character.
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The establishment of a Supply Management Unit in the Department of Children in 2024 was an effort by the Government to get its head around the scale of the problem and address it. It also represented an important change in mindset, seeing childcare as something that the State must actually provide where necessary rather than leaving it to the private sector.
Tusla has been the regulator since 2016. Addressing ghost creches is part of its mandate and measures are being considered. They include aligning the planning guidelines that apply to developer-built creches with Tusla regulations; an obvious step which seems to be taking an undue length of time.
Other more ambitious policies will take longer. But having avoided its responsibilities in this regard for decades, time is not on the State’s side.
