Barnardos launches €100m childcare strategy

Barnardos today launched a €100m strategy and investment programme which seeks to make Ireland the best place in the world for children.

The plan, Valuing Childhood – Cherishing Children, details measures to ensure Ireland cherishes “all the children of the nation equally” as stated in the 1916 Proclamation and aims to reach this goal to coincide with the centenary celebrations of the Easter Rising in 2016.

According to official figures there are currently 66,000 children living in consistent poverty.

Barnardos chief executive Owen Keenan said he was concerned 6% of children still experience deprivation and poverty.

“The challenge is to intervene and break perpetuating cycles we will not accept that the children of vulnerable parents are automatically consigned to a life of deprivation,” he said.

Currently Barnardos work with over 12,000 families in Ireland providing direct services, advice and support and we also invest more in community services than any other children’s charity in Ireland.

New market research commissioned by Barnardos confirmed that while 100% of those surveyed supported Barnardos vision, over 94% did not think all children were equally cherished currently.

Barnardos was founded by Dublin-born Dr Thomas Barnardo in London in 1866 and has operated in Ireland since 1962.