Keep the focus on childcare

FAIR play to the Irish Examiner for bringing to the attention of parents the inadequacies in crèches around the country (October 30).

Perhaps if newspapers in the past had paid similar attention to the ways young children were cared for, we would not have had so many horror stories and social problems in recent years.

I accept Ruth Cullen’s assertion (Letters, November 11) that the interest of the child is paramount and that when childcare inspections take place, there should be a focus also on the positive aspects of how crèches are run.

And I agree the childcare sector is grossly under-funded. The fact that childcare workers are so poorly paid is an indictment of all of us. If governments understood the unbelievable growth spurt in a child’s brain in the first three years of life and how important an influence carers are on emotional development, then carers’ wages would at least match those of teachers. That’s no to say that childcare workers shouldn’t take a good hard look generally at how the service is run.

In Britain, Rosemary Murphy, head of the National Day Nursery Association which represents more than 3,000 private nurseries, has expressed concern about the ways young children are being cared for without any form of public debate. I have yet to meet a childcare employee who would place anyone belonging to them in a crèche.

It was great that our senior citizens show their political strength recently. However, the young don’t have a comparable capability. That’s why we need bold headlines and in-depth reports.

Jim Jackman

Spokesperson

Children’s Voice Éire

Park Drive Court

Castleknock

Dublin 15