There is a “real crisis” in Irish childcare with creches continuing to close down around the country.

A nationwide survey published by the Irish Independent this morning has found that parents could be waiting up to three years for a creche place for their child.

The survey of 220 creches around the country found that just 35% of areas currently have creche places available.

Waiting lists range from six months to more than three years – with parents now contacting creches to try and secure a place as soon as they get a positive pregnancy test.

On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, Tigers Childcare CEO Karen Clince said Government must find a way to improve pay and conditions for childcare workers.

She said the only way for providers to improve the pay they offer their workers is to hike fees or to get more subsidies from Government.

“We've had a freeze on our fees since 2019 and as you can imagine, for all of us, the cost of living has gone up since then,” she said.

“So as providers, actually, our profit margin is reducing and reducing, meaning that we actually can't afford to pay colleagues more.”

Childcare

She said a Government report carried out last year found that providers are not making “huge profits” and the only way to improve pay is through increased fees or Government subsidies.

“[Our margins] are really very tight,” she said. “Our margins have been squeezed by about 5% in the last two years.

“So there are huge sustainability issues as well and that's causing an access problem, that's causing this issue because services are closing down.

“They're reducing the amount of children they're taking [and] they're reducing the ages of children they're taking, because they're having to make decisions around sustainability rather than, you know, supporting families.

“There's a real crisis there.”

Waiting lists

Ms Clince said she is optimistic that the issues in the sector can be addressed with the right Government support.

“We've excellent Government policy and we just need the funds to be able to support it and I think Government are starting to see that,” she said.

“I am optimistic that Government will do this, but it needs to happen quickly because otherwise we won’t have places for children and we won’t have colleagues staying in the sector.”

The Irish Independent survey found that waiting lists are longest in Monaghan and Westmeath – with places unavailable in both counties until 2027.

Tigers Childcare runs 22 centres catering for 400 employees and 2,500 children.

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