The Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (OMCYA) will pay the cost to childcare providers, at a rate of €64.50 per week per child, in return for three hours a day of pre-schooling, five days a week and 38 weeks a year.

However, service providers are not satisfied with the scheme as it stands, claiming that the payments will not cover the costs of quality childcare. The National Association of Private Childcare Providers (NPCP) wants the scheme to operate on the basis of payment for each day a child attends, rather than payment on a weekly basis.

"Insisting on a five-day service, even with limited exceptions, will remove parental choice. Many parents do not want to send their children to pre-school five days a week for a variety of reasons," NPCP chairperson Sharon Smyth said.

The association is proposing a daily subsidised model like that used in Britain, which would "secure the state subsidy for the benefit of all parents and their children and also allow service providers to charge a viable fee". In this situation, the State would bear no extra cost, NPCP says.

But the OMCYA said that a daily childcare subsidy would mean the pre-school year would not be free as, in addition to receiving Government funding, pre-schools could also charge fees to parents.

Moreover, claims that payments would not cover providers’ costs were not borne out by fees charged in the pre-school sector, where average fees for a three-hour place are below the proposed €64.50 rate, OMCYA said. 

According to OMCYA, about 42,000 (90 per cent) of pre-school services across the country have applied to take part in the scheme, and approximately 100,000 places will be available for children in the appropriate age bracket when the scheme begins in January, which far exceeds the 70,000 who are likely to qualify for the pre-school year in January.

But Sharon Smyth says there has been little or no take-up of the scheme by parents because of a serious lack of information. She said one provider with five centres in the country’s south has had just three enquiries from parents since mid-September. (Source: Irish Examiner)