ARRANGEMENTS: Jill Pearson is very happy with the childcare arrangements in place for her children Ciara (4) and Ailish (3) but it has taken of lot of work to get to this point. "My kids get fantastic care and I have every confidence in the staff and management of the Silver Apples crèche."

Because Jill and her husband Eddie Wiley both work irregular or flexible hours, they need to have flexible childcare arrangements worked out. They have coped by combining the regular hours of the on-campus crèche in Limerick University with back-up help from a live-in student.

On weekdays, Ciara is dropped to school at 8.50 a.m. and Ailish is brought to the crèche between 9 and 9.30 a.m. Jill is based in the university and shares the job of collecting Ciara from school at lunchtime with another mother.

The two girls spend the afternoon in the crèche together until they are collected by Jill or Eddie between five and six o'clock.

The crèche is relatively good value at €95 (£75) per week for the full-time place and €45 for the part-time place. The couple pay the full rate for Ciara during school holidays.

The family has taken in a student for the second year in a row, an arrangement that worked very well last year. This year Anna helps out with the children in the house in return for free room and board. The deal is flexible and includes baby-sitting for a couple of nights a week.

The fact that there is a spare pair of hands in the house means that Jill can work on her PhD in the evenings when she needs to. Eddie works as an independent television producer and is away from home several days a week.

Jill, who is originally from Canada, is amazed that there is no tax relief for money spent on childcare.

However, she is very pleased with the level of support she gets as a working mother from colleagues in Limerick University and from neighbours.