The cost of childcare for parents could be reduced by half under a new 10-year strategy to be introduced today by the National Women's Council of Ireland (NWCI).
The group is proposing that a publicly funded childcare system be supported by the Government which would provide for better maternity leave, subsidised childcare and quality early childhood care and education.
With the exception of a limited number of childcare places, parents in Ireland pay for childcare from their own private means. The NWCI's model, which draws on research funded by the Department of Justice and conducted by the Centre for Social and Educational Research in DIT, focuses on subsidising childcare to make it more accessible and affordable for parents.
The NWCI calls for paid maternity leave to be extended from 18 to 26 weeks, five days' paid paternity leave and 26 weeks' paid parental leave.
In the area of subsidised care it calls for:
The NWCI is calling on the Government to "strongly examine" this model of care as part of its five-year strategy being drawn up at present. It says its model, which would cost around 1 per cent of GDP, could be phased in over 10 years.
While the Government has focused on providing more places in childcare, the NWCI says its failure to address accessibility and affordability means parents are saddled with some of the highest costs in Europe.
Most EU countries provide free universal access to pre-school services for children aged three to six.
