Despite legislative changes in 1991, the failure of the State to take a strategic role in the delivery of paid child care has led to a severe shortage and very high demand for existing places.

Many privately-owned child-care facilities survive on a precarious financial basis. Furthermore, there are no agreed national pay scales or career structures for child-care workers. Rates of pay can vary between £2 and £4 per hour, and therefore there is a shortage of qualified child-care workers. In disadvantaged communities in particular, workers are leaving to take up other job opportunities because of the economic upturn.

Most home-based child-minders are operating in the `informal' or `black economy'. Child care is paid for by parents from already taxed incomes and costs range from £45 to £90 plus for one child (additional children cost more), while there is no national screening system for child-care workers.

Contrary to Prof Patricia Casey's recent article on child care in these pages, the National Women's Council of Ireland (NWCI) is very much in touch with the needs and wishes of Irish parents in relation to their child-care choices. NWCI policy, which is that all parents irrespective of their socio-economic status have the right to affordable, accessible quality child care, is exactly what parents want.

Prof Casey failed to shed any light on what most people agree is a complex issue.

The child-care march in Dublin last November 14th was part of a nationwide campaign. In relation to whether or not women want economic independence, Prof Casey asserts that many women "see marriage not as a competition for the largest bank account, but a partnership of give and take".

It may come as a surprise to the professor that unfortunately when one small pay packet or social welfare payment is coming into a family every week, it is certainly not the case that the weekly wage is a "small aspect" of that partnership. Rather, for a great number of parents it heightens the need to recognise that all members of this society have a stake in how our children are taken care of.

This experience and understanding are at the heart of the NWCI's well-publicised and well-informed position on child care.

In relation to the 1999 Budget NWCI's position is as follows:

Tax relief even where only one parent is in paid employment.

An increase in child benefit to all mothers/families.

A child-care subsidy of £65 per week for low-income families where the mother or father is accessing second-chance education or training opportunities.

A tax allowance of £5,000 for home-based child-minders to bring them into the formal economy.

Grants for capital costs for community-based child-care facilities in disadvantaged areas.

Rather than allowing ideologies to overtake common sense, let us look at the facts in relation to paid child care in Ireland.

The demand for paid child care is growing. The ESRI Survey of Childcare Arrangements carried out for the Commission on the Family (1998) found that:

38 per cent of all parents with children aged 0-4 and 18 per cent aged 5-9 avail of paid child care.

16 per cent of children with mothers who work full time in the home availed of paid child care as compared with 58 per cent of mothers in full-time employment.

Future demand is likely to increase by at least 25 per cent, according to a recent study by Goodbody Economic Consultants.

The need for action by the State to provide a national child-care policy framework is urgent. Prof Casey's interpretation of what constitutes "State sponsored child care" is certainly not that of the NWCI.

The NWCI has never called for a State-run child-care system, nor is it in favour of the establishment of "a network of State-run creches". In common with many working in the field of child care and the great majority of parents, NWCI believes the State should take a strategic role in providing a policy framework for the provision of safe child care delivered by qualified and properly paid staff.

Clearly there are contrasting views about the nature and role of the State in modern society; the notion that the State should not intervene in matters such as this is not new; and Prof Casey's views have resonances of the shameful opposition to the Mother and Child Scheme in 1948.

Thankfully, this is 1999, and it is no longer possible to threaten and undermine progressive social change in this State by innuendo and misinformation. The NWCI is confident that as we move towards the millennium Irish parents and children will have an appropriate policy framework for child care to support them in balancing their responsibilities and choices.

Noreen Byrne is chairwoman of the National Women's Council of Ireland