Kildare Mother Details Her Poor Experiences With Kildare Creche As She Looked For One Suitable For Her Children

Rebecca Grogan spoke on this morning's Kildare Today, following calls from Together for Public for a public childcare model to be introduced

A Kildare mother-of-two has spoken publicly on her experience of finding a suitable creche for her two children, describing it as one that was poor and stressful.

This follows a call from over 25 organisations who have joined forces to call for an introduction of a public childcare model.

Together for Public is calling for all government parties to back a public system for both childcare and early childhood education in order to help families.

It would follow a similar system to the primary school system, where it is paid for by the State, and is written into legislation to guarantee a space for every child.

Rebecca Grogan is a Sallins-based mother of a 4-year-old and a 1-year-old, and spoke on this morning's Kildare Today on the matter.

Ms Grogan had a poor experience with a Kildare-based creche, which then lead her find an alternative childcare service which she deemed was difficult.

Whilst saying the educators in the room at the Kildare-based creche was "fantastic and gave a level of comfort sending their children there", the management was "a completely different story".

She was met with hostility when asking questions, and also felt they did not encourage parents participation.

In one instance, Ms Grogan was collecting her children when it appeared that management were firing a staff member in front of children and parents.

Staff members were "running around and crying and it was really inappropriate", said Ms Grogan.

Ms Grogan is in favour of a public model of childcare, saying that her experience made her feel trapped, whereas a public model would allow more accessibility in creches if parents feel the need to find an alternate one.

The cost of childcare for Ms Grogan matches her mortgage, which includes the Government funding.

Also speaking on the Kildare Today show was Mathias Urban, PhD, Urban Director of the Early Childhood Research Centre (ECRC) at DCU, who says the current model leaves large numbers of children and families without access to childcare and that the current system is broken.

"We have large numbers of families that can't access early childhood education and care, either because there is no service in their community or because it's unaffordable.

"On top of that, [the current system] relies on cheap labour provided by highly qualified early childhood educators that are earning quite often below the living wage", said Mr Urban.

In relation to the lack of services available for parents in their community, many parents in Kildare have criticised the decision of developers not to construct creches within new-build housing estates.

Guidelines from 2001 called for larger new-build estates to have at least one childcare facility, but Kfm has reported on examples when this has not been the case.

In one example, Kfm reported on Mullen Park residents who expressed their frustration as a creche advertised in the estate brochure was unfinished, three years since residents moved in.

According to an Irish Independent survey, Kildare is one of the counties with the highest cost of childcare services, with a monthly cost of €1,400, followed by Dublin city with fees around €1,300.