Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the hard and valuable work the 53,000 childminders across the country do. They fulfil a great role. As a parent, I have experience of this. Not everybody can afford long maternity leave. My two children went to a wonderful childminder, Sheila Wilson. They were part of her family and she provided not just a service but had them as part of her family. I know the difference she made in their formative years growing up and that has continued on through their lives. I acknowledge the wonderful work that childminders do and the fact we could not do without them.

I have a number of concerns about the Bill. I heard what the Minister said about the consultations and he said he is listening and wants to get this right. I will take it at face value that he does, so I want to feed in some observations. The first that I want to feed in is a communication I received from somebody who is a registered childminder. She states:

I have been working as a childminder for the past 21yrs in this country, I offer a wrap around service whereby the parents drop their children off in the morning & I do all the preschool & National school drop offs & pick ups.

That is the flexibility that is required for childminders. She continues:

I currently offer the NCS for parents as well. I run a very busy service & rarely have spaces, the children I mind usually come as babies & stay until they go to secondary school, they are family after all that time. There is no full day care service in my town so childcare is very limited.

We need to be congisant of that when we look at the numbers registered, the numbers who are likely to register and the timeframe they need to register within. She continues:

I have engaged with my local County Childcare Committee in discussions about the new regulations proposed for later this year. I have things I'd like to say about them: As a current TUSLA registered childminder that has been inspected on numerous occasions I feel that it should be possible for me to seamlessly transfer to the new system, without the need for home visits, further training etc.

Currently I am able to mind 2 children under the age of 15mths, this works well for me & I see no need for that to change. If it was reduced to 2 under 2yrs this will negatively impact my service. For example, this past year I had 2 [children] under 15mths & a further 2 under 2yrs. With the ECCE scheme covering 2yrs it's not very often that I would have children start over the age of 2yrs.

We can see that again in terms of other childcare provision, which is after two years. She continues:

It most likely will make my childminding business unviable.

I signed up to Core Funding in 2022 & like everyone else who signed up had to freeze my fees. The last time I increased my fees was 2012 & I'm sure that you will agree costs have significantly increased since then. I currently charge €35 a day with all meals included.

I saw for myself what she had included in the meals. The Minister talked earlier about nutrition. Her home was conducive to children having an environment to meet all of their needs. She continues:

If my numbers were to drop, my income will drop & I'll most likely have to cease childminding.

That is in a town where there is no other service. She continues:

I run my service from my home, therefore I run it as a home. There are times when people will visit & of course the children are in my supervision at all times. I don't want this to change so long as the children are in my supervision I see no issue with this at all. I currently have a visitors book & I would continue to operate this.

In the regulations it states that a childminder works alone, I would like on occasion to employ someone to do a few hours with me during busy times. I think so long as the person employed is qualified & has Garda clearance that this should be acceptable. It would only be to the benefit of the children & the childminder.

Would be so handy if I had appointments or if I was sick to have someone who could step in & take over. I feel so much pressure any time I've to close for an appointment, I'm very aware I'm making it hard for up to 6 families to find alternative care for the day/s.

It can be a very lonely job at times & this would make it more enjoyable. This person may also double up as our emergency person.

I want the Minister to take the comments of that registered childminder into account to ensure she is viable going forward. She continues:

I have received Core funding over the past 2 years. At present I have no idea if I will receive it again this year. It has been suggested that they are going to rethink childminders payments. Probably a lesser amount.

She says it would be good if that can be corrected. She continues:

Its June & I have no idea what I will I have come September. If my CF is reduced I will probably leave it & increase my fees.

It would be good if that is all taken into consideration.

The level of consultation with the sector has to improve. These are the people who have the answers to how this can work for everybody. It needs to be inclusive and it needs to be cognisant of the unique nature of the service childminders offer. We have a lot of work to do and we will work with the Minister to do it.

See this speech in context