Robert Buckley, the owner of Parkside Childcare in South Dublin, spent much of Saturday communicating with the parents of children who normally attend his creche.

When he informed them that schools would not be reopening this week, he learned that 32 of the 134 children who are normally looked after would not require childcare.

Then, on Saturday night at about 8pm, he received additional information from the Department of Children, stating childcare facilities should only open for the children of essential workers and vulnerable children this week.

Hospital Report

He communicated with parents again, and by Sunday, the number of children his business was expected to care for this week dropped to 62, less than half of normal occupancy.

Proposal to close schools until end of January considered by Government

---

Reopening indoor dining was reasonable at the time, but it has backfired

---

Pregnancy and Covid: Partners excluded from scans at Rotunda Hospital

---

“The only way that we were able to open was down to the parents who didn’t bring their children in. We were able to cope with maintaining our pods,” he said.

“ It’s very difficult to try and balance everything: the needs of the parents, the needs of the staff, the need to adhere to public health advice, the need to maintain pods within the creche, the need to adhere to all of the regulations; there are a lot of things to juggle.”

Mr Buckley said there was a “nervousness” among both parents and staff about the return this week. He paid for each of his 35 staff members to undergo the rapid Covid-19 tests, at a cost of between €80 and €100 per test.

“We went and tested all of our staff over Saturday and Sunday and thankfully all came back negative but it gave great peace of mind not only to the staff members but also to the parents,” he said.

Mr Buckley has been able to make this week work logistically, but he said financially there are still some unanswered questions.

“The majority of our customers paid their childcare fees and then they’re being asked, for the greater good, to not attend even though they’ve paid, and there’s no clarity around who will pay the bill,” he said.

And what will happen if schools remain closed past January 11th? Difficulties will develop quite quickly, Mr Buckley believes.

“If this is to continue more than a week, we’re going to have the majority of parents not attending asking for refunds, we’re also going to have a much higher staff number than the children attending so it becomes uneconomical if we expect 62 children going forward,” he said.

“If schools are going to remain closed and creches are going to remain open and they’re going to remain open at 50 per cent of normal occupancy then there will be a problem.”