Calls for minimum number of children in Kildare creches criticised
Cllr Nuala Killeen (SD) raised objections to the proposal
A call for Kildare County Council to set the minimum number of children required to open a creche at 80 has been criticised by a Leixlip county councillor as a policy change “that will not benefit families or communities.”
In a motion to the council on Monday (April 28), Cllr Suzanne Doyle (FF) called for the development of best practice recommendations for child-care facilities, including a ratio of one creche per a minimum of 80 children.
This, she said, would “ensure sustainability and efficiencies that can deliver the necessary regulatory standards for quality childcare in County Kildare”.
However, the motion was opposed by Leixlip Cllr Nuala Killeen of the Social Democrats who said it would be “a huge policy change that would not benefit families or communities”.
Cllr Killeen said she believed a variety of different childcare settings should exist, including large providers, sessional providers and smaller settings.
“In a large service, the family tends to lose the personal touch and the relationship with teachers because the incidence of staff turnover in childcare provider chains is so ridiculously high”, Cllr Killeen said.
“There is an invaluable home-from-home quality to smaller services that can't be quantified.
“If we are going to be provisioning specific models of childcare, we need to condition provision of a building’s size and dimension for a variety of room uses that would be appropriate for varying needs and children’s ages.
“If we are serious, we could also make it essential that a building be viable to facilitate a baby room, which is the most pressing need, and the one that directly influences workforce participation in women.”
In a response to Cllr Doyle’s motion, council officials noted that the delivery of childcare is not a service directly provided by Kildare County Council.
“As such, the formulation and development of a set of county wide recommendations of best practice in the delivery of childcare is a matter for the Kildare County Childcare Committee and/or the Department of Children, Disability, and Equality”, it was noted.
The Council’s Director of Planning, Alan Dunney, agreed to accept submissions for inclusion in a Departmental review and Cllr Killeen has said that she will be making a submission for inclusion.