Childcare providers warn increase in closures could threaten capacity to meet demand

The rising number of childcare providers closing their doors could lead to the State being unable to cater for the number of children requiring childcare, according to a representative body for providers.

Speaking in reaction to new figures from the CSO reflecting the number of children nationwide currently receiving childcare, Elaine Dunne, chairperson of the Federation of Early Childhood Providers, says that the number of service providers who are considering closing their doors due to staffing and profitability concerns will lead to capacity issues in the sector. According to Ms Dunne, 97 childcare providers have closed nationwide since March of this year.

On Thursday, the CSO said about one third of children aged under 15 in Ireland receive some form of childcare. Creches and similar facilities are the most commonly used by parents (42 per cent) while a further 16 per cent of children are cared for in a childminder’s home.

“Who’s going to look after the children?” says Ms Dunne. “A lot of us will be gone. There’s a lot gone in rural Ireland and in Cork city, there were four [service providers] gone in the last two and a half weeks. That’s 254 children that have lost their places.

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“We don’t want to see children that are being displaced. We work to keep children, educate them and nurture them. That is going to be taken away from the child because we are going to close permanently.”

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Speaking at a public meeting on Thursday evening, Ms Dunne criticised the Department of Children for inadequate funding and support measures for childcare providers. She said she believes a “significant” number of providers will close their doors and go on a three-day strike scheduled to start on September 26th.

Ms Dunne says that Thursday’s meeting in Stillorgan, Co Dublin, was the eighth such meeting held nationwide by the Federation of Early Childhood Providers in recent weeks aimed at “getting people to come on board and close their doors”. A number of TDs and local councillors were present at the meeting and pledged their support for improving conditions for childcare providers, a trend Ms Dunne says is being mirrored “at each county when we do these meetings”.

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“The general goals are to ensure that firstly the children’s needs are met, the parents’ needs are met, the providers are made viable and sustainable and we all work together to get these goals.”

Attendees of Thursday’s meeting were told that the total number of early childcare providers in Ireland has dropped from 4,483 in 2017 to 4,062 as of March of this year.

According to a survey conducted by the federation, 40 per cent of early childcare providers reported levels of anxiety and depression that would require attention from a mental health professional.

“We’re full of anxiety and not in a good place,” said Ms Dunne. “We are working morning, noon and night. We are under personal pressure to keep on going on a shoestring budget.”

The Department of Children has been contacted for comment.

[ ‘It’s disheartening to have to keep saying no to people’: childcare sector struggles to meet demand ]