Sir, - Newspaper articles and general media coverage of childcare is very welcome. However, some working parents and childminders might be misled. The language we use about childcare has not kept pace with the change in the number of mothers in workplaces outside the home. Even the word "childcare" presents difficulties. We in the sector have coined "childcare" to mean the provision of care, usually on a daily basis, for children whose parents are at work or training, rather than children who have been taken into care by the State.
"Childminder" in the rest of the English speaking world means a woman who is self-employed, usually in her home, offering a flexible childcare service for a small number of children in a family setting. In Ireland we use "childminding" for this type of service, but have now come to use the word, quite generally, for childcare in the child's home where "nanny" was traditionally used. The semantics become important when talking about tax.
The purpose of this letter is to clarify that a childminder caring for children in her own home is a self-employed person, providing a service. She is responsible for her own tax and RSI and is not an employee of the parents. A person employed by parents to care for children in their home is an employee, and has legal protection and entitlements as such. The parents as employers are responsible for tax deduction in the usual manner of PAYE and RSI deductions and returns. It is regrettably true that no allowance is made to the employer in regard to employing a nanny, no matter how qualified she may be.
Childminding Ireland is principally concerned with supporting the self-employed childminder, and we have much advice and useful information about tax, including how to assess liability, if any. We also strongly advise insurance for this profession and offer a group insurance scheme, covering up to six minded children.
Health boards are not arbitrary in the inspection process. The 1996 Regulations for Pre-School Services apply, requiring all group childcare settings to notify the relevant health board. However, where less than four children, not related, are cared for, childminding in the childminder's home is excluded from the notification and inspection process. Children cared for in their own homes, or in mother-and-toddler groups are not subject to regulation.
Childminding Ireland welcomes as members all childminders - whether self-employed or employed by parents - and parents also as members. - Yours, etc.,
Patricia Murray, BA, Dip.Ed, Chief Executive, Childminding Ireland, 49 Applewood, Greystones, Co Wicklow.