Almost 200 families face increases of about €400 per month after a group of four childcare services operating on the south side of Dublin city informed parents it was pulling out of the Government-backed core funding scheme.
In letters sent to parents, management at Fitzwilliam Montessori, D2 Montessori, Fitzkinder Creche & Montessori and Kidds Care Montessori said the move had been unavoidable after the four services were refused permission to increase fees by up to €33.30 per week while remaining inside the core funding scheme.
That, it is said, prompted the decision to withdraw, meaning the services will no longer receive the direct funding received under the scheme to support operations or be constrained by the general freeze on fees imposed by the Government in return for it.
The letter said the services needed to generate additional revenue as that freeze had been in place for several years, while the cost of attracting and retaining staff, rent and utilities had all increased substantially over that period.
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Parents with children attending the services said the increase — typically from about €680 per month to about €1,080 for full-time care — had come as a shock and left them with no alternative but to pay up to €5,000 a year in additional fees. The lack of alternative places, one said, meant there was no possibility of moving their child.
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“We were on the waiting list at six places before we got this place and multiple others wouldn’t even put us on their list when I was in the early stages of pregnancy,” said one mother, who asked not to be named. “We called up places in the area who told us they were booked for the next two years, as in, people had taken the spots who were not even pregnant yet. That’s what one place told us.”
She said there was frustration and anger among the parents affected, many of whom are in touch with each other through a WhatsApp group.
“No one is necessarily blaming the childcare provider but there is obviously some sort of disconnect here between the providers and the Government and it is having a big impact on us,” she said. “In our case, we hopefully would like to have another child but we find ourselves asking if we can afford it and as a woman, you end up asking how much you value your career if all of your money is going on childcare.”
Another parent suggested there were few options in the locality that are still part of the core funding scheme with another provider, Pembroke Montessori, having previously withdrawn from the scheme.
“But even if there was, the waiting lists are insane … Luckily, we can afford this but I don’t know how someone with multiple kids is going to cope, especially with two months’ notice.”
The Department of Children, which oversees administration of the core funding scheme confirmed notice had been received that D2, Fitzwilliam and Kidds Care would be leaving the programme but said just one service had previously left between September and January 7th.
It said 1,242 childcare providers, something over a quarter of those participating in the core funding scheme, had submitted applications last year to impose the limited price increases envisaged while remaining in the scheme. Of these, 1,153 had been deemed eligible to be considered for increases, 684 had been granted permission to impose them on parents and the process was still ongoing in a significant number of cases.
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Emmett Rice, one of the owners of the four services said the decision to increase prices had been taken because the services would not have been sustainable otherwise.
“We’ve always tried to keep the fees as low as possible but our services are relatively small, between 30 and 50 children, not the 150 you find in some places, and our costs are high, building maintenance and rents because they are in the city, but also staff costs, which have increased hugely.
“It was a very difficult decision, but it got to the stage where you’re paying your salaries and you’re kind of going, ‘Jesus, I can’t pay certain people ‘till [the] start of the next month’ and that starts to become a cycle.”
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