Sligo creche owner Caroline Casey welcomed the increases in child benefit but said the Budget did not do enough to help parents who have to pay for childcare.
She believed money should also have been made available to help with the cost of setting up childcare facilities as there were not enough good quality places available.
"There are very strict regulations now - and it is important that they are there and are adhered to - but people are not going to register unless it is worth their while," she said.
She set up the Hopes and Dreams creche in Sligo town two years ago after returning from England. She took out a loan to meet initial costs and says the only way she can earn a proper wage for herself is by also holding two part-time jobs, one of them in the evenings.
"There isn't enough to take a wage for myself. I would really love to be able to pay my staff what they are worth but as it is I can only pay them the minimum wage. We do this work because we love children and not for money," she said.
Hopes and Dreams takes children from three months to six years and she employs four fulltime staff and one part-time worker. Ms Casey points out that with the rates she charges, there is no profit to be made from minding babies.
Regulations require that there be one staff member for every three babies under one-year-old.
She said she could not raise the fees she charges - £75 for one child and £142 for two - because parents would not be able to pay. "Our fees are a lot lower than in Dublin, even though all our costs like insurance and wages are the same but parents can't afford any more."
Qualified, experienced staff are difficult to find and one of her employees left recently to return to college to train as a nurse. "The job of looking after young children isn't valued enough. The early stage is the most important stage in a person's life and they should get the very best care. People looking after children shouldn't be on the minimum wage."
Ms Casey said she believed all childcare fees should be tax-free. If the Government did not want to discriminate against stay-at-home parents, special allowances could be given to them, she said.