Anne-Marie Browne could not afford to keep working if she had to pay for after-school care for Stephen on top of the €400 per month creche fees she pays for Rebecca, writes Kate Holmquist
Parents: Anne-Marie Browne, office administrator, and partner Tommy, factory worker, living in Kilcullen, Co Kildare
Children: Stephen (seven) and Rebecca (three)
What they have: Grandmother provides after-school care for Stephen; Rebecca is in a creche full-time
What they want: Affordable, subsidised after-school clubs and help with creche fees; the financial means to have another child
She has already taken a pay cut so that she can arrive at work at 10am rather than 9am, enabling her to take Stephen to school.
Anne-Marie's partner, Tommy, manages a section in a meatpacking factory. "It takes both our wages to pay the bills, the mortgage and the creche fees. We have no luxuries," says Anne-Marie.
Stephen's grandmother drives a 30-mile round-trip daily to collect him from school, then minds him in her own home. But on two of the days she has to do this after working 12-hour night-shifts in a nursing home and making do with just an hour's sleep.
The arrangement is "lonely" for Stephen because there are no other children to play with on his grandmother's estate. Anne-Marie would prefer to see him in an after-school club, where he could participate in activities such as drama and football.
Every night, Anne-Marie must cook a hot meal for Rebecca, then store it in the fridge so it can be microwaved next day at the creche, which is registered and based in a family home. The creche used to provide hot, home-cooked meals, but after a health board inspection it was prohibited from providing meals because the kitchen facilities (which are like those in a typical home) were judged inadequate.
"The quality of the creche is 110 per cent. Rebecca could not be cared for better. The health board regulations on the type of kitchen required are too strict," Anne-Marie says. "I'd love to have another child, but I can't afford it due to the cost of childcare."
