“Wake-up call” needed for Government over childcare figures, says Sherlock

Labour Senator Marie Sherlock has highlighted what she calls a “severe” shortage of childcare places within Dublin. 

The Senator and her team carried out research that explored issues surrounding childcare around Dublin, and according to Sherlock, the findings point to “major shortage of buildings suitable for childcare facilities.”

“Every week we have parents tell us of the enormous stress they face trying to access a childcare place – the reality is that we have a major shortage of buildings suitable for childcare facilities.”

Sherlock cited a case in Stoneybatter where two preschools with 105 preschool places between them were forced to close because of a lack of suitable alternatives.  

The survey, which asked parents across Dublin 1, 3, 7, 9 and 11 about their experiences of finding places for their children, got 102 detailed responses to the five detailed questions asked.

The results found that 53% of parents reported actively searching for a place for 6 or more months, while one in three parents faced a wait of 12 months or more.

Most telling of all, 20% of parents in the survey responded they had to abandon their search and resort to other alternatives such as relying on family, cutting back on work or taking on a much more expensive option such as a childminder in the home.

42% of those surveyed reported cutting back on work hours and seeking flexibility in order to make their childcare arrangements work, while a further 21% of those polled found that one of the parents were forced to give up work in order to mind their child.

Sherlock says the findings “relate to the very severe shortage of childcare for babies under the age of one.”

“We know this issue is not confined to this part of Dublin but applies right across the city,” she added.

“Despite our appeals to date, no one has been willing to take responsibility between the Department of Children and Local Authorities – we need to see Government action,” Sherlock said. 

Discussing how her party would tackle the problem, Sherlock pointed to Labour’s alternative budget proposals, which would ringfence €65 million for the creation of 5000-6000 childcare places under public childcare proposals.

“The early years package in Budget 2024 will rightfully focus on fees and supports to children with a disability. We’re calling on the Minister to ensure new places can be created and staffed by early-year educators on decent incomes.”

Discussing the survey’s findings, Sherlock said her team talked to parents across Dublin 1, 3, 7, 9 and 11 because they believe these areas in Dublin have become childcare “blackspots.”

“That’s why we ran this survey, as a wakeup call to the department who claimed that places are growing across the country.”