The Donegal County Childcare Committee have called for more investment in childcare in response to the results of their latest census.
The committee identified childcare costs and support for children with special educational needs and disabilities as the major issues in early childhood services in 2015-2016, but there is hope for good news in Budget 2017.
Donegal has 144 early childhood services across the county, with a 777-person workforce serving 4,838 children.
Since 2013, the number of children lacking special educational needs support in Donegal has almost doubled. The increase in children identifying with autism, behavioural problems and speech and language difficulties has been highlighted as one of the most pressing problems facing early childhood services in Donegal.
Avril McMonagle, Manager of Donegal County Childcare, says “while the new Access and Inclusion programme launched in June this year is designed to address the problems faced by children with disabilities in the future, it will take approximately three years to become properly embedded in the early childhood sector.
“Progress on the initiative to date has been slow, and during this transition phase existing HSE supports in Donegal must be kept in place. DCCC intend to closely monitor the impact of any changes on children with disabilities during this time,” she said.
The Donegal census report has also revealed that of the 4,838 children that attend early childhood services throughout the county, 69% participate in one of the three Government childcare funding programmes. The free pre-school year has the highest uptake with 2,337 children participating in this programme across the county.
The cost of childcare in Donegal remains high for parents that are just above the income threshold for support. Sending a child to full day care per week in Co. Donegal ranges between €145 and €175 for community managed services and between €125 and €175 for privately managed services. Letterkenny is the most expensive area for childcare in both community and privately managed services.
Ms. McMonagle is hopeful that there will be good news for childcare providers and parents alike in Budget 2017. She believes that overall investment levels have to increase in order to create a system that is fit for purpose for parents, service providers and the early childhood workforce.
“The introduction of the single strand childcare funding programme in Budget 2017 is welcome, however, it should be designed to bring more parents into the childcare support eligibility bracket than is currently the case. There should also be a strong Government commitment to continue to widen this bracket over successive budgets. The situation where women are being prevented from either remaining in employment or taking up full time work opportunities due to the prohibitive cost of childcare is a shameful characteristic of gender inequality and must be addressed,” she said.
http://www.donegalchildcare.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/DCCC-Census-2015-2016-Final..pdf
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