Employers seek answers to Ireland's childcare conundrum 

Cork Chamber's report offers recommendations on how childcare needs can be served

Cork Chamber chief executive Conor Healy, president Susie Horgan, director of public affairs Fiona O'Donovan, and director of public and international affairs Cathal McSweeney, at the launch of the report Childcare Provision & its Impact on the Workplace. Picture: Darragh Kane

There was plenty for working parents to think about – if they could find the time – in Cork Chamber’s report into childcare, published this week. 

The report, entitled Childcare Provision & its Impact on the Workplace, looked at the challenges facing both childcare users, employers, and childcare providers, and also offered recommendations, based on best practices in Europe.  

With 68% of businesses surveyed saying the existing Irish childcare system as ‘not fit for purpose’, the report will form part of Cork Chamber’s Budget 2027 submission later this year.  

Based on research undertaken over the past year, the report shows an appetite among employers for a change in childcare provision in Ireland. 

It calls for  

• employer-supported childcare, including tax credits for corporate crèches; 
• fee caps based on percentage of income to ensure affordability;   
• public sector pay parity for early years educators comparable to primary school teachers; 
• statutory guarantees of infant care to reduce workforce disruption for parents,  
• support for registered home-based childcare, to expand accessible options.  

The report’s publication was timely, as this week, children’s minister Norma Foley announced plans to cap childcare fees for parents at €183.70 per week from September after Government subsidies have been applied. This represents a reduction of €14.30 per week compared with last year’s cap.  

“The Government’s announcement this week is welcome, but affordability is just one piece of the puzzle. Affordability and capacity need to be addressed together, and that's what this report is about,”  said Cork Chamber Public Affairs manager and report author Fiona O’Donovan.   

Minister Foley said €480m will be allocated to the Core Funding Programme for the year beginning in September, which gives funding to childcare providers in return for freezing fees, with an additional €45m will be ringfenced to support improved pay rates for childcare workers. 

State funding in early learning and childcare in Ireland has doubled from €730m in 2022 to €1.524bn in 2026, Ms Foley said.  All very welcome, but the findings of Cork Chamber’s report shows how working in childcare can sometimes be viewed as a stopgap to areas like primary school teaching. Last month, the Oireachtas Children’s Committee heard from childcare providers who said that pay, working conditions, and career pathways simply can't compare favourably with other professions. “While the sector now aspires to a graduate-led workforce, many qualified graduates are not remaining in the sector,” said Karen Clince, founder and chief executive of Tigers Childcare told the committee.

Early Childhood Ireland has advocated for public pay parity for childcare workers, and an approach that would give greater recognition to equivalent qualifications.   

City Hall creche a model

The Cork Chamber report also highlights examples of how future childcare options could work for large organisations. The creche at the civic offices on Eglinton Street at Cork City Hall runs from 8am to 6pm and is cited as an example of how employer-supported childcare can work in practice. Cork City Council does not run the crèche, but provides and maintains the purpose-built facility, which is independently operated and fully insured by the provider Oakview Village crèche.

More than 400 children were on the waiting list for just 41 places, the report said, "highlighting the scale of unmet need particularly in cities across the country. The provider notes consistent demand from healthcare professionals seeking childcare to enable them to take up roles in city hospitals, demonstrating that childcare facilities located within employer premises will retain strong demand beyond the immediate workforce, even where not all employee-designated places are taken up."

The huge demand for the City Hall creche is an example of how the system is at capacity nationally. Another childcare provider in Cork described how they “stopped counting” their waiting list for places which they estimated at 200 children. 

Some 75% of businesses surveyed by Cork Chamber said lack of available places was the single most significant childcare challenge affecting their employees.   

The Chamber report says there is willingness among employers to change the system - 69% of business leaders surveyed said they would consider supporting childcare provision through corporate crèches or tax-incentivised partnerships if appropriate Government supports were introduced, while 62% believe responsibility should be shared across Government, employers, and providers. 

 In researching European best practices, Cork Chamber’s report looked at models working in Denmark, Sweden, and France. In Denmark, early educators require a bachelor’s degree, with pay scales reflecting the education. Sweden has guaranteed child places, with maximum fees capped at 3% of a household’s monthly income. In France, businesses can deduct 50% of their childcare-related investments, up to a ceiling of €500,000 per year, directly from their corporate tax bill. 

“By integrating childcare into the corporate structure, businesses are able to mitigate the ‘motherhood penalty’, directly supporting the retention of female talent and reducing turnover costs.”  

According to Cork Chamber, there are lessons and opportunities to be grasped from all three systems.   “A myriad of obstacles exist in the childcare space. The recommendations we are making are aimed at addressing many of these obstacles. This is a solutions-based report calling for a new approach,” said Ms O’Donovan.   

Unsurprisingly, the restrictions around childcare primarily affect women. One childcare provider told researchers how she had been contacted by a woman who was planning a pregnancy in 2027 and was seeking for a place to be available in 2028.   

The findings revealed by Cork Chamber mirror research carried out by Karen O’Reilly, founder of Employflex and Employmum, a Cork firm which provides flexible work recruitment services, consultancy, work audits, and training. Ms O’Reilly wrote a thesis based around how motherhood affected careers and opportunity in Ireland. 

Karen O'Reilly of Employflex. 

“In my research, every mother interviewed had either reduced their hours, moved into flexible work or taken a complete break from employment because full-time work and childcare responsibilities had become unsustainable. The childcare challenge was often the catalyst that changed the trajectory of their careers,” said Ms O’Reilly.  

The Chamber childcare report found that more than one in three business respondents (36%) said childcare challenges resulted in employees leaving their organisation or declining roles.  “When childcare is unavailable, unaffordable or inflexible, mothers are far more likely to step back from the workforce. However, what is less often discussed is what happens next,” said Ms O’Reilly. “My own research found that none of the professional women interviewed returned to the workforce at the same level they had occupied before having children. Many spoke about sacrificing promotions, leadership opportunities, and earning potential in exchange for flexibility. Several described what I termed a 'flexi-glass ceiling', where flexible work allowed them to remain employed but stunted their career progression. 

 “The childcare crisis has consequences far beyond the early years. It creates a ripple effect that can impact lifetime earnings, pensions, financial independence and representation of women in leadership positions.”  

Changing global landscape

 A changing global workplace environment, with technology shifting and AI increasingly prevalent, add further chicanes to extended parental career breaks. “Time away from work can mean lost professional networks, reduced visibility and growing confidence gaps, making the return journey harder than ever.”  

Ms O’Reilly notes there are currently zero female CEOs leading Euronext Dublin publicly listed companies. “If Ireland wants to retain experienced professionals and improve female representation at senior levels, childcare policy and flexible work policy must be viewed as two sides of the same coin.” 

Sweden’s affordable childcare system results in 85% of working-age women participating in the workforce compared to Ireland’s 61%. “For both Cork and Ireland’s FDI reputation, this model demonstrates how childcare can be a talent magnet rather than a deterrent,” the Chamber report said.  

The National Planning Framework (NPF) 2040 envisages that Cork will become the fastest-growing city region in Ireland with a projected 50% population rise. Ms O’Donovan said that in order to be attract and keep talent, then childcare is another element of infrastructure which must be in place.  “For Cork, where local employers are already reporting operational and retention challenges linked to childcare shortages, these interventions would mitigate lost productivity, support women’s career progression, and improve talent retention, while also enhancing Cork’s appeal to international investors,” the Chamber report says. 

 “We have amazing educational institutions in Cork," said Ms O’Donovan. "We all know Cork is a great place to work and live. But if we are talking about our future workforce and maintaining that skilled pipeline we have, then we have to fix the childcare issue.”