Public funding for childcare an urgent priority

THE State needs to put major investment in place immediately to provide for around 50,000 publicly-funded childcare facilities that will be needed over the next seven years, the Government’s policy advisers have warned.

The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) recognised that childcare is increasingly thought of as an element in the context of providing for early childhood care and education.

The institute’s report on investment priorities for the National Development Plan (NDP) 2007-2013 estimates that 50,000 extra places would be a reasonable level of provision for State-supported childcare facilities.