Child-care services open 12 hours a day and available to all parents are needed throughout the country, according to the Minister of State for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. Ms Mary Wallace yesterday announced a working group to recommend how affordable childcare can be provided. The group is part of a commitment in the Partnership 2000 agreement.
The Minister said she envisages the creation of community-based facilities, open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and charging parents according to their ability to pay.
The facilities could be used by parents at work, parents in the home who wish to pursue education or training, and by health boards which have children in their care.
We would have a national crisis in child-care but for the number of women who opt to work in the home and also engage in childminding, Ms Wallace said.
"In relation to poverty and social exclusion, employment is the only way forward," she said. "Research has also shown that those most likely to be in poverty are women and children. Therefore, providing child-care facilities so as to enable socially excluded women to access the labour market, is also tackling social exclusion."
Approximately 40 bodies, ranging from government departments to voluntary groups, are represented on the working group, which Ms Wallace hopes will report within a year. The group is chaired by Ms Sylda Langford, an assistant secretary in the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.