Sir – I don't understand Breda O'Brien's logic in suggesting that we don't spend taxpayers' money on creche-based childcare because most parents choose a family-based model to care for their child ("Opportunity knocks for equality in childcare", Opinion & Analysis, September 24th). To me, that's a bit like saying we don't invest taxpayers' money in our bus system because most people have family cars.
As a family living in Dublin, with three children under five years of age at one stage, we didn’t use a creche, and instead I set up a business at home, juggling baby and laptop in my arms. There were no boundaries or balance between paid and non-paid work for me. Our children learned from an early age that while mammy might always be there, she often wasn’t fully “present” for them, unless they gave me a good tug. To this day, my daughter Rose, now 10, tells me not to give her the “auto-nod”.
Yes, I could have asked my parents, but I didn’t want to turn the joy of seeing their grandchildren weekly into an everyday job. I did ask our local creche about part-time places for a couple of mornings a week, but they just looked at me as if I was asking for marmalade. Because my husband works irregular hours, and is a fantastic father, we were able to manage the juggle, just about.
But it’s not what I want for my children when their time comes to be parents. So, I definitely want my taxpayers’ money to be used to set up a childcare system, like a good transport system, that offers different local routes to quality, affordable childcare – full-time, part-time, whatever they need. And when I’m a granny I intend to do optional childminding, not compulsory. – Yours, etc,
CARMEL DOYLE,
Dublin 9.
Sir, – The Early Childhood Care and Education Scheme (ECCE), offering universal access to preschool, is a significant budget commitment within the entire “childcare” spend by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. The programme is for all children – children whose parents work and children whose parents are at home.
This September the scheme expanded, offering younger children the opportunity to attend what is now a two-year scheme.
We can assume parents at home have signed up their three-year-old children as there is no cost to families due to the model of direct state funding. We’ll need to wait for data confirmation to be sure.
This supply-side investment has allowed the State to incrementally set higher standards, introduce education-focused inspections, and to better support children with additional needs attending preschool.
We can extrapolate from what we know of countries that indirectly fund early childhood education and care through vouchers or tax credits to parents that such a move here would likely have resulted in higher fees for parents, and a far lower uptake, so fewer children would have had a formal early learning experience prior to school, with less impact on improving quality.
In fact, the predecessor of the ECCE scheme, the Early Childcare Supplement, did just that with a larger budget than was needed to roll-out the ECCE scheme.
The aim is to streamline and clarify existing subsidies, support families to afford centre-based care, wherein the quality of experience for the greatest number of children can be affected through conditions set by the State, and all within a finite budget. These are effective and research-informed choices.
We are fortunate to have a minister with Dr Katherine Zappone’s depth of experience and knowledge of the sector at the helm. – Yours, etc,
DR SHEILA GARRITY,
Unesco Child and Family
Research Centre,
School of Political Science and Sociology,
NUI Galway.