Childcare experts urge parents to use ‘quality’ crèches

CHILDCARE experts say that Health Service Executive (HSE) regulations must be seen as minimal standards and is advising parents seeking a crèche for their child to look for one that is committed to quality through membership or involvement with a voluntary childcare organisation.

There are at least seven voluntary childcare support organisations, which offer quality support services to childcare staff, promote child development, curriculum development and also monitor the quality of their member crèches.

The vital role of these groups has already been acknowledged by the OECD in its 2003/2004 report, which pointed out that these seven organisations had been responsible for consistently setting higher quality standards which put the child at the centre of a childcare practice.