The shortage of places in crèches in Ireland has become so severe that parents are booking their children in before they are even born. 

Father of two Ciaran told Lunchtime Live he put his son on the waiting list for the same crèche as his daughter when his wife was just seven weeks pregnant. 

“He's five months now and he won't have a place until July 2025,” he said. 

“That’s the crèche we have our daughter in that she went to in January. 

“We thought it might be easier because of the sibling policy - they do have a policy to prioritise siblings – but that’s just how it is.” 

Unpaid parental leave

Ciaran, who lives in Dublin 8, said there are a number of issues connected to the lack of places in preschools. 

“They can’t get staff, they can’t keep staff and I know a lot of crèches are in the same position,” he said. 

“Also, the fact no creches can take anyone until they’re one makes absolutely no sense either, because most places will have maternity leave for six months. 

“In the vast majority of cases it falls on the mother to not go back to work and to fill that gap.” 

He said when his daughter was a baby, they both took unpaid leave while waiting to enrol her in a preschool. 

“We don’t know yet how we’re going to manage this," he said. 

“I will have to see if I can take unpaid leave but it’s difficult when you have a mortgage.” 

260 parents turned away

Averil Sheehan from Care-a-Lot Childcare in Cork said the current situation is “frightening” for parents. 

“On Friday alone before lunchtime, we got six emails looking for places here,” she said. 

“Last month we turned away 267 parents over four a half weeks.” 

Similar to Ciaran’s story, Averil said she has spoken to expecting parents already trying to get their child a spot – and they still have to wait at least a year. 

Public crèche service?

Averil doesn’t think making childcare a public service similar to primary schools is the answer, however. 

“Look at how much they’re struggling as well,” she said. 

“In my local primary school, I'm on the board of directors and they're screaming out for support. 

“I don’t think the public sector would work at all.” 

The Government announced as part of Budget 2024 that the National Childcare Scheme hourly subsidy will increase from €1.40 to €2.14, from September 2024. 

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