Nearly half of parents surveyed in this Kildare town considering giving up work due to lack of childcare places

Nearly half of parents surveyed in one County Kildare town are considering giving up their work due to the lack of childcare places in the town.

The figure originates from a survey carried out by a local community group called Kilcullen Needs Childcare.

The findings were highlighted by TD for Kildare South, Mark Wall, who said: "Kilcullen is a rapidly growing town, and the issue of childcare is greatly impacting many working families, and in the majority of cases these are women.

"We are already seeing the impact on working hours, as 47 per cent of parents have reduced their working hours; the majority of these are women who are in jobs that are in high demand, sectors like education, healthcare, construction, and finance.

"The lack of childcare is also having a negative impact on the careers of these parents, as one in five have already given up their careers."

Mark Wall TD, Labour Party. File photograph

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The Labour Party politician continued: "There are over 150 children that are in need of an early years or afterschool place in Kilcullen alone, and this crisis is reflected across the whole of Kildare and in many other counties.

"This is all going on while we have purpose-built facilities lying vacant across Kildare, and many small-to-medium sized childcare settings are struggling to breakeven."

He concluded by saying: "We need to see the State stepping into places like Kilcullen that have become a childcare desert; we need publicly funded, State-led childcare facilities set up; and we need to finally recognise early years education as a vital investment in our children’s future and a key part of the education system."

TESTIMONIES

One parent who took part the survey gave an insight into their dilemma.

The parent, whose identity was not disclosed, explained that her son is three months old, and that while she is still on maternity leave, she has not yet secured a place for him to go to for when she returns to the workplace.

"I have decided to take extra unpaid leave for another two months," she said. "After this time, we will either have to find a private childminder and for my husband to reduce his hours or stay at home full-time and give up his career because we can’t afford a childminder full-time."

The woman added: "We are on over ten waiting lists and have had to apply out of Kildare too."

Another parent who was surveyed (and whose identity was not disclosed) also had this to say: "My baby is not even here yet, but already we know that we’ll have to travel outside of Kilcullen for childcare until a place opens up for our little one.

"It makes things much harder with work, and socially for our child as we want them to be with the kids they’ll be going to school with."

The Department of Children, Disability and Equality has been contacted for comment in relation to the survey's findings, as well as Deputy Wall's statement.

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