What childcare sector needs is funding
Stephen Carthy owns Mellowes Childcare and Adventure Centre in Athboy, Co Meath. He’s been in business since 2004 but in 2008 as the economy collapsed, he saw full-time figures collapse from 64 to six. Business has recovered since but not to anywhere near the level it was. Parents, he says, are under huge financial pressure and there’s no way fees can be increased to offset rising oil, electricity, and tax costs.
Set on an acre of land, Mellowes is also home to an adventure centre complete with bouncy castle and bouncy slide, pedal go-carts, a pets corner, and mini golf. The creche children get to enjoy all the features of the adventure centre.
“What we need is support and help. A childcare worker starts the day by looking at the child’s plan for the day, then takes care of the children all day while using their individual plans. They change the children, feed the children, play with the children, put the children to sleep before looking after the children again and all day they are filling out forms so they can communicate the day back to parents,” he says. “It is exhausting and they earn buttons. Just look at how we treat creche workers compared to how we treat teachers, guards, nurses.
“We’ve chosen to neglect early child development yet this is the perfect age at which to invest in children. Invest in them when they are young and you will see a huge return when they finish their education and work in the economy for another 50 years.”
Mr Carthy has written to Frances Fitzgeralnd, the minister for children, asking her to provide funding to creches to help better staff salaries and provide a pay scale. He also wants a capitation fee of €30 for each child he takes in privately. His creche can take in children whose parents have gone back to education and are getting assistance from the childcare education training scheme (CETS) but he can’t take in children who, because their parents have medical cards, are getting the community childcare subvention (CCS).
“I’d like to be able to take in children on the CCS scheme where their parents have medical cards. It’s ridiculous that these parents can’t come here if they want to. We’re not all rich in this sector and we can’t erode our overheads forevermore. Yes, the whole thing has been grinding me down and, yes, I’ve thought of giving up, but I love what we do. State funding of staff is vital at this stage and I’d love to see an additional floating staff member funded too as they could do the lion’s share of the form filling.
“We are run off our feet trying to do what is needed here, care for children properly. But the solution of the Government is just more bureaucracy. That is not the solution.”
He, like many more in the sector, is astonished the industry is still unregulated.
“We get crucified in creches; there is no issue around children being in childminders’ homes where there can be Alsatians, smokers, where there are different people coming in and out of the house all day long, where they have no insurance and where a child can sit playing under a frying pan. Also, we turn a blind eye to childminders who may have two or three children but aren’t paying tax.
“It is so disheartening to see everyone constantly ignoring this sector and just kicking the issue down the road. The solution always is to just bring in another quango to examine what’s going wrong instead of talking to people working on the ground about what’s going wrong.”
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