Cost of care forces cruel choices

IT’S one of those uncomfortable realities about modern Ireland but tens of thousands of Irish children, aged six months and upwards, now spend more of their formative years in childcare than at home with parents.

Soaring house prices have meant that young couples have to travel further outside towns and cities to find affordable homes and even at these distances, one salary is often gobbled up by the bank and so a dual income isn’t about aspirational lifestyles or feminism, but more a bread-and-butter necessity.

Distances from the workplace also mean that many kids are roused from their slumber as early as 6.30am so they can be dressed, fed and deposited at the crèche before their parent hits the commuter trail at 7.30am.

I know of one dad who can only get his child out of bed on a winter morning by pulling back his son’s duvet, opening the bedroom window and then standing at the other side of the room with a dressing gown.

He’s a devoted dad, don’t worry, but it shows you what parents are up against.

Ten hours a day or 50 hours a week in childcare may sound excessive but that’s only taking a bare eight-hour working day into account and a one-hour commute each way.

Therefore, it comes as no surprise that parents must implicitly trust their childcare provider.

As one mother said: “You need a place that gives you peace of mind. Full-time work is hard enough without worrying that your child isn’t being looked after properly.”

So when a case like the McGrane crèche case comes to court, where a toddler was left alone for up to 40 minutes in a park during an outing, working parents will be squirming.

Giggles Crèche and Montessori was fined €1,200 by Dublin District Court for breaking regulations governing pre-schools under the 1991 Childcare Act.

Judge William Hamill gave crèche owner Anne Davy two €600 fines on two charges of failing to ensure the health, safety and welfare of the child by leaving it unattended and failing to ensure that children were properly insured.

Ms Davy was convicted of failing to keep proper attendance records and staff rosters, for which no penalties were attached.

Costs of €1,000 were also awarded against her.

To many people, Ms Davy, who is still in business, got away lightly.

The fine wasn’t enormous and she’s still in business despite a child being put at grave risk under her watch.

The National Crèche and Nurseries Association (NCNA) said this case demonstrates how crèches aren’t being inspected enough because the Pre-School Inspectorate is under-resourced.

“The growth in the childcare sector has put the inspectorate under a lot of pressure. They’re meant to inspect nurseries and childcare facilities once a year. We know that doesn’t happen in many cases but don’t blame the inspectorate for this as they’re not resourced enough,” said NCNA director Mary Lee-Stapleton.

The regulations themselves are described as “very basic” by the NCNA, who set higher standards for members who wish to join their organisation.

“The current regulations don’t even require childcare qualifications amongst staff and in the absence of such regulations, you will have crèches that are not up to the standards you want,” she said.

“However, there have been fantastic improvements in Ireland in recent years but it is extremely difficult to provide high-quality services at a rate that parents can afford to pay, as most providers get very little State help,” she added.

Of the main political parties, it can be argued the Labour Party has the most comprehensive childcare policy.

Party spokeswoman in the area, Senator Kathleen O’Meara, said the inspectorate has to be resourced and larger subsidies have to be given to community-run and private crèches.

“There is a big link between the extent of subsidies and quality,” Ms O’Meara said.

“Pay the crèches to hire the required amount of staff, put a quality service in place and link further subsidies to the quality displayed at inspections.”

Ms O’Meara slammed the Department of Justice for its two-faced approach to childcare.

“It talks about all this investment but at the end of last year, a letter was sent to a number of community crèches saying that their staffing grant could be withdrawn soon.

“One crèche in Roscrea would have to close its services as most of its clients are lone parents and parents on retraining courses who can’t afford full fees,” she said.

“There is a Department of Justice policy in place of giving grants to get crèches up and running and then mainstreaming them, even crèches in deprived areas. That isn’t feasible,” she said.

“I fully believe crèches in this country are stretched to the limit. The vast majority are well-run and the workers love children but they need resources.

“We must fund them to ensure quality for our children.”

Nathan McGrane’s mother, Denise said that her son was left on his own at Fairview Park for up to 40 minutes before she found him.

“I don’t work outside the home. Nathan is my only child and I bring him to Montessori five mornings a week to get him ready for school next year. If I ever went back to work, I tell you, I’d only leave him with my mother,” said the 32-year-old yesterday.

Nathan is now at another Montessori school and was reportedly unshaken by the incident.

“Luckily, he had no idea what was going on,” she said.

A review on crèche regulations was started two years ago and consultations finished a year ago.

However, there is no sign of the report which was examining issues like space allocation, ratios, enhancing child development and training and safety.

“The review is in no man’s land. As far as I know, most of it has been finished but there is no sign of it being published,” said Ms Lee-Stapleton, who made submissions to the review on behalf of the NCNA.

“The review is gathering dust somewhere. This isn’t acceptable. It shows the political commitment to the issue,” said Ms O’Meara.