Budget 2023 has failed to provide clarity for the childcare sector and could force some providers to close, according to the owner of a preschool in Dublin.
ríd Corr, 67, runs Bambi’s, a one-room kindergarten in Clondalkin for children aged two years and eight months to four or five years.
Currently 44 children attend kindergarten.
In the 2023 budget, the government announced that a further allocation of €59 million will go to the recently adopted Core Funding model.
Nearly 4,000 childcare services (90 pc) have now signed new state financing contracts, meaning that the fees charged to parents remain unchanged from September last year.
Core funding will be allocated largely based on capacity, opening hours and age group of children.
One of the key conditions that childcare providers must meet in order to receive the funding is the freezing of parenting prices at the September 2021 rates.
However, Ms Corr now fears she will have to close her business because the core funding model is not “viable” for her preschool service.
“Some people haven’t signed up for basic funding, they’re at the base rate of $69 per hour per child per week, they don’t know how to survive,” she said.
“I’m going to see how it works for me in the coming year or even for the next few months and if I have to give up, I have to give up. Your concern is that the business supports so many families and that is why everyone is so hesitant because it is very difficult to close your business after all this time but it is starting to become more and more of a nightmare.
“Some people shut down and quit because it’s not worth the stress and that’s terrible. You get a budget for everyone else, but we are not clear about that at all.”
Ms Corr said she is awaiting further details in the coming days on how the additional funding will be allocated.
“Actually, we don’t know enough, I don’t know if there is already an allocation for ECCE, the mainstay of my company. I don’t know if they just ignored us or if there’s something in it,” she said.
“It’s too hard to figure out until we have more details about it, it’s unclear and the other thing is they’ve given more money to parents, which is really brilliant, but it’s another layer of administration for us, I take it.” at.
“We’ll see when it’s explored a little more, which, if anything. I don’t know if it’s intentionally unclear or if we’re just being ignored, but the ECCE schedule was not mentioned.”
In its pre-Budget filing, the Federation of Early Childhood Providers (FECP) called for additional funding of €191 million for the sector in the 2023 budget, to “stabilize the industry and improve outcomes for children, parents, staff and caregivers.” improve”.
Her daughter, Treasa Keegan, 40, lives in Celbridge, Co Kildare, with her partner Mike and their two sons, two-year-old Eddie and Dominic, who are four months old.
Ms. Keegan works in banking and is an administrator at Bambi’s, but is currently on maternity leave. She applauded the reduction in the childcare allowance, but described it as “a drop in the ocean”. She currently pays $1,200 per month for her oldest child to attend full day care.
“It is a missed opportunity, the department said they will reach their target of €1 billion five years ahead of schedule. It’s still way behind the norm in Europe, it’s just not good enough. The costs have to be reduced by €300 or 400 per child and it has to be done immediately,” she said.
“I’m really disappointed that it didn’t even make it to the €200 mark, there’s no reason why something as basic as childcare couldn’t have been better prioritized to give parents a good break.
“I’ll take the €175 but I’m really disappointed they haven’t moved on, for parents like me that won’t make a difference whether I go back to work or not. €175 per month is not going to change that decision for me.
“This is a drop in the ocean. I’m taking all the help I can get, but it’s not nearly good enough.”