A Tipperary childcare provider says the sector will go into melt down is action isn’t taken by government to properly fund services.
The comments from Darren Ryan of Clonmel Childcare come as reports suggest a large number of crèches will not be reopening in September.
Speaking on Tipp Today he said the childcare sector needs help urgently:
“Somebody, somewhere, at some stage is going to have to sit up and start paying some very, very serious attention to what is happening within the early years sector because, if they don’t, the sector is absolutely going to melt down.
“That’s not being flamboyant and that’s not trying to create any 999 response, that’s reality.
“If we continue the way we’re going, then we are going to absolutely implode. That’s just the reality of it.”
The Clonmel Childcare manager also says the administrative work being face by childcare providers in Tipperary and across the country is said to be a huge burden on their services as they cope with the impact of Covid-19.
Darren says they’re having an impact, even though places haven’t fully reopened:
“Apart from the numbers returning, the administrative burden that’s being placed on service managers is out of this world.
“I am an office-based manager. I am literally in here at 7.45am and I’m here till 6pm, working in an office. And at the moment, I’ve had to pull the assistant manager from her room and bring her into the office to assist me with the administrative work.
“And that’s an extra cost to the service that nobody is meeting.”
You can listen back to the full piece from Tipp Today this morning here.
