Laois childcare provider to close citing 'crisis' in sector

An early childcare provider which looks after over 100 children has decided to close its doors due to what its owner says is a ‘crisis’ in the sector. 

Cullohill based Aisling’s Little Angels Ltd will close its doors for a final time after 15 years in business on June 14. The business had provided employment to 13 staff.  

Owner Aisling Aylward issued a letter to parents and guardians outlining her “sadness and regret” and having to cease operating. 

“This decision has been one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make and did not come easy. There are a number of reasons for this closure, some that just seemed impossible to overcome,” she explained in a letter to parents. 

“After much deliberation and acknowledgement of the current crisis in our sector we made the difficult decision to close,” she continued.

The Cullohill native has been providing childcare in her locality since 2009.  She said the decision to cease operating was “extremely difficult” but she felt there was no option. 

“There are multiple reasons this decision was made. First and foremost is staff. Over the coming summer months our team would shrink drastically, and this was due to several things, some of our staff are becoming mums themselves for the first time, some are leaving to travel while others are leaving the sector for higher paying jobs,” she said. 

“It is challenging to maintain staff, however fortunate I was until now, the funding and pay freeze in the childcare sector has meant the business was not in a place to offer more because the overheads have increased also.

Staffing and funding go hand in hand. Without adequate funding, staffing becomes an issue, they need to take care of themselves, how can anyone blame them? They have children and lives to maintain too,” Ms Aylward said. 

“Recruitment in this economic climate is difficult, the wages are not enticing, there is very little to draw in childcare and early education professionals,” Ms Aylward said. 

She believes pay is key to childcare businesses retaining their staff. 

“The professionalism of staff needs to be adequately reflected in pay. It just has to be, it really is that simple.  The level of education and training undertaken by staff and the dedication they have is inspiring when you consider how much they do for so little recognition,” she said. 

Early childhood education and care is an emotionally rewarding sector, but it is very challenging, said Ms Aylward. 

“Parents have been behind us, understanding the level of professionalism and care the staff bring to work everyday, throughout the strikes they had our backs too, but the government didn't, they didn't hear us when we were begging for support and recognition. Maybe they didn't want to, maybe they have a public system already lined[up] and just needed to get rid of us in the private sector first. Sometimes it feels like we were driven to a breaking point deliberately,” she said. 

When asked if the government had done enough to support businesses like hers, Ms Aylward was emphatic. 

“No, plain and simple, if it had I might not have had to close my doors. Staffing a facility is difficult, this is a very fast paced environment and can be a very challenging job; interest in childcare and early education, I have observed, has reduced. Most students coming to me for experience are going on to primary teaching which is a lot better paid, the limited resources in early childhood education and care can't contend with that. Without proper investment and dedication to the sector we will see the numbers of those engaging with employment in the sector dwindle,” she said.  

Ms Aylward said she hoped the parents who used her facility will be able to find places elsewhere but she wasn’t able to say where they will go. 

“I am not sure where they will have to go, most services around here have waiting lists, as I had because the demand was so high. Hopefully they will get somewhere. It is very unfortunate and I wish them all the luck in the world, the parents have been so good to us and I'm in such a state of stress for them,” she said. 

When asked how she thinks the early childcare provider sector will fare given the pressures it faces she said: “In my own personal opinion, I can see the massive problems arising, and the introduction of a public system.  I genuinely believe that the government will sacrifice our hard work, our passion and dedication to the sector, like it's nothing,” she remarked.  

She said the sector is in trouble because the sector is not being adequately supported. 

“Profit margins are narrowing, I can't offer staff a fair and just wage, the wages on offer is not enticing to new recruits, overheads are skyrocketing and the stress is unbearable,” she said. 

Local childcare provider Sonya Duggan believes the closure is indicative of ongoing issues in the sector.  

She says increasing costs, regulations and government red tape has left the sector in crisis. 

Ms Duggan runs Kilminchy School House Montessori School and Day Care Centre in Portlaoise. 

She believes many small and medium privately run services are going to go out of business if conditions don’t improve. Funding and the level of paperwork now involved in the childcare sector  are one of the key concerns.

When asked how much of her day is taken up with paperwork, she said: “I would say 100 percent now is paperwork compared to five years ago, I am full time administration.”

Ms Duggan said she only gets involved in hands-on childcare if she is short staffed and when that happens she has to do the paperwork at night and weekends.  

“What would be great to see is just additional funding and support for early years, for preschool,” she said. She said her service lost its higher capitation because they wouldn’t sign up for the government’s core funding model. She said many providers are pulling out of the core funding model due to the administrative burden involved. 

“They didn’t reinvent the wheel, they just renamed and rebranded the higher capitation,” she claimed. She said aside from rebranding it, the government introduced rules which effectively “micro-managed” providers who signed up. 

Ms Duggan said the Department of Children has increased benefits for parents but the money is not making its way to the providers who are struggling with increased costs and additional paperwork. 

She said the Department has now also begun to stop recognising foreign qualifications which had been accepted in the sector for years previously. Ms Duggan believes staff will leave the sector to follow more secure jobs elsewhere.