Childcare services - A tiny price to change so many lives

IT may seem unreasonable to call for an increase in Government spending during the worst economic crisis of modern times. It may seem doubly so just a day after Taoiseach Brian Cowen — and the rest of us — had to countenance the truly frightening prospect of 400,000 workers losing their jobs before the end of the year.

It might not matter that spending this money is the right thing to do. It might not even matter that this expenditure could change the lives of a small group of people who, at an impossibly early stage in life, were dealt a very poor hand of cards. However, it might just matter that this expenditure would save the exchequer considerable sums and, as an aside, keep a good number of people out of jail and help them contribute to society rather than depend on it.

Yesterday, Focus Ireland launched a campaign to do just that. Their cause deserves, most especially in these awful times, our full support. They want the Childcare Act, in relation to children who are in state care and have reached the age of 18, changed.