Calls for urgent childcare reform echoed at Council meeting

At the Council meeting on July 8, the Council discussed childcare availability and regulation. Three motions addressing different aspects of this issue were presented by Councillors Mary Bohan, Maeve Reynolds, and Brendan Barry.

Cllr Bohan urged Leitrim County Council to appeal to Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Roderic O'Gorman TD and Taoiseach Simon Harris to urgently increase childcare services in Leitrim.

The proposal was seconded by Cllr Warnock, Cllr Gilmartin and Cllr Barry.

“There's a serious shortage of childcare places, certainly in Manorhamilton municipal district,” Cllr Bohan said.

Cllr Bohan highlighted the effect this is having on working parents, describing how many young couples moving into the area and building new homes are struggling to find adequate childcare, forcing one parent to stay at home.

“I'm calling on the Minister for Children and the Taoiseach to consider this as a matter or urgency; the provision of childcare and to increase the funding of childcare.

“I think there should be special emphasis put on this in the Budget.”

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Cllr Reynolds-Flynn requested that Leitrim County Council urge the Minister of Health and the HSE to lift the employment embargo.

In the motion that followed, Cllr Reynolds asked that the Council call on the Minister for Children to postpone the new childminding regulations until there are thorough discussions with childminders and changes are made to address their concerns.

Cllr Reynolds argued that while safeguarding is crucial, the regulations may force small childminders out of business, making it all the more difficult for parents to secure childcare when they return to work.

“There's new draft regulations, currently at the second stage at the Dáil. At the moment, childminders that care for fewer than six children in their homes are exempt from registration with Tusla.

“That mechanism was put in originally because there's recognition that minding children in a house is very different from minding in a crèche facility.

“Most childminders are probably unaware of the proposed changes at the minute that will require mandatory registration and compliance with specific standards,” Cllr Reynolds said.

The new regulations mean that anyone caring for children in their homes, whether it's one child or five, will have no exemptions and will be subject to Tusla inspections and more or less the same rules as a crèche.

Consultations with childminders are happening, but only with those registered with the Leitrim Childcare Committee. 

Cllr Reynolds noted that there are only 12 registered childminders in County Leitrim, leaving hundreds of other childminders out of the consultation.

“We can see the effect these regulations have in other countries, five years ago in Scotland this led to a thirty percent decline in the number of childminders in five years.

“The effect was seen particularly in remote and rural areas and the main reason cited for leaving the profession was the increase in bureaucracy.”

In a similar motion, Cllr Barry requested the Council call on the Government and the Minister for Children to show a genuine effort to involve childminders in discussing their worries and concerns about the new childminding regulations.

“If all these extra regulations are brought in, it's actually going to make it harder to get childminding places. It's going to reduce the number of them, when there is a serious shortage there already,” Cllr Barry said. 

“A lot more needs to be done before the regulations are brought in.

“Regulation is needed and improvement is needed, but a lot more childminding places are needed to be created.”

All three motions were widely supported across the councillors.

“Another issue is the lack of incentive for childcare providers and childcare workers to educate themselves fully,” commented Cllr Róisín Kenny.

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“People go and get degrees in childcare and they're paid very little more than the base workers. They're very poorly paid, just above the minimum wage.”