Happy new year to all our followers

Happy new year to all our followers, fans and people who just pop in to havea look! Thanks for your interest in MyChildcare.ie in 2009. We have more exciting things planned for 2010!
http://www.MyChildcare.ie

Creche attendance down among eight in 10 providers in 2009

Creche attendance down among eight in 10 providers in 2009. See our news story for the full article: http://www.mychildcare.ie/news30122009_1.asp

No shortage of places for free year of pre-school.

No shortage of places for free year of pre-school. This was a new article this week and you can see the full article right here on MyChildcare.ie: http://www.mychildcare.ie/news30122009.asp

2 brand new parenting articles exclusive to MyChildcare.ie from Marian Byrne are now available to read.

2 brand new parenting articles exclusive to MyChildcare.ie from Marian Byrne are now available to read.

They are called "Effective Communication" and "Engaging Co-Operation" and you can view them from Marian Byrnes own section on our website.

http://www.mychildcare.ie/parentcoach.asp

New ECCE Calculator now available on the website.See when your child qualifies for the scheme!

New ECCE Calculator now available on the website.See when your child qualifies for the scheme!

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE CALCULATOR

You're one in a million!!

You're one in a million! Since we launched 10 months ago we have had a staggering 1 million page views and over 70,000 visits! Thanks so much for your interest and visits to MyChildcare.ie! View the stats here

ONE IN A MILLION!

Connolly Childrens Centre in The Coombe

Connolly Childrens Centre in The Coombe have chosen MyChildcare.ie to advertise their services. A big welcome to Elise and the team there!

Press release about MyChildcare.ie and MyHome.ie joining forces to bring childcare searching to home buyers

Hi there,

A press release went out today about MyChildcare.ie and MyHome.ie joining forces to bring childcare searching to home buyers.

You can view our press release here!

Further Details:

Children face a 'Black Christmas' as Lenihan slashes child benefit

Children face a 'Black Christmas' as Lenihan slashes child benefit

Children face a 'Black Christmas' as Minister Lenihan slashes child benefit by 10% in the 2010 Budget. Family incomes are being attacked from every side in this Budget, but the Government has chosen to target children for the biggest cut of all. Parents' group PACUB is horrified by the Budget, and predicts that more and more families will fall into poverty as the new decade begins.

“This Government seems to have an obsessive need to cut child benefit,” says PACUB spokesperson, Treasa Dovander. “The very principle that they have chosen to go after our children while propping up Zombie banks sickens us to the core. Families have long memories and will not forgive this Government for making our children pay the price for the mistakes of the banks and developers. For the second time this year the Government is attacking families. Already we are to lose the Early Childcare Supplement, Child Benefit for 18 years olds and Mortgage Interest Relief, and pay more in taxes and levies. At the next election, Government parties will regret their actions today.”

For eight months PACUB has campaigned on behalf of families and explained the importance of child benefit. In October a petition signed by over 16,000 families was handed in calling on the Government to leave child benefit alone. Group members have protested, met with Minister Hanafin, and appealed to her face-to-face not to move ahead with this idea. Opposition parties support PACUB's arguments, and have produced Budget submissions that show how savings can be made without cutting child benefit. A joint press conference with OPEN, One Family, the Children’s Rights Alliance and the National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI) was held to demonstrate to the government how a cut, any cut would push families who are already struggling over the edge. They did not listen.

The Government has disregarded the thousands of worried voices of Irish families and moved ahead despite warnings that they will harm children and disadvantage families. How can the government claim to be protecting the vulnerable when they take an axe to child benefit?


“We dispute talk of the cost of living having fallen - we have seen increases in childcare costs in the past year,” says Ms Dovander. “We know that fees for doctors, dentists and health insurance have gone up. Many PACUB members say that their food bills are now starting to climb as well. A 10% cut will just strangle families struggling to survive. We also believe that this is just the start. If families take this without a fight, it will set a precedent, and there will be more cuts next year, and into the future as further savage budgets are promised.”

PACUB (Protest Against Child Unfriendly Budget) set out to give a voice to everyone who believed that the supplementary budget in April unfairly targeted families. On-line and paper petitions gave people the opportunity to be counted, and tell Brian Cowen to leave child benefit alone.

More information on PACUB - Protest Against Child Unfriendly Budget - can be found at www.childbenefit.info or on Facebook (search PACUB). Contact Carol/Candi/Treasa/ on 087-6753734 / 085-1289342/ 085-1096399 or on email via protest4childbenefit@gmail.com

Child benefit and welfare rates to be cut

As you have now heard, Child benefit and welfare rates to be cut. More on MyChildcare.ie here: http://www.mychildcare.ie/budget2010.asp

Wee Care Day Nursery on Monkstown Avenue

Wee Care Day Nursery on Monkstown Avenue are now advertising with MyChildcare.ie. Welcome to Caitriona and everyone there!

Apple Tree Creche & Montessori in Naas

Apple Tree Creche & Montessori in Naas joined MyChildcare.ie today to promote their childcare business. Welcome to Sharon & the team there!

'Suffer little children’ – 10% cut is “merciless” says PACUB.

'Suffer little children’ – 10% cut is “merciless” says PACUB. Budget Leak
http://www.mychildcare.ie/news01122009.asp

Brand New Partnership

We can now announce our Brand New Partnership! We have teamed up with MyHome.ie and their all new website. Every property page of the new MYHOME.IE website has a "Childcare Search" powered by us here at www.MyChildcare.ie! You can search for childcare near any property you are interested in!

Some great new Parenting Articles on the site!

Worried about what your kids are or are not eating. Another great article from Marian our parenting expert!
http://www.mychildcare.ie/parentcoach_foodforthought.asp
Putting the Sleep Back Into Bedtime! Our Parent Coach Marian Byrne has just wrote us a fantastic article for those sleep deprived parents. I know I can relate to it's contents so I hope you can too!http://www.mychildcare.ie/parentcoach_sleepbackintobedtime.asp

We had an advert in the Sunday Tribune

We had an advert in the Sunday Tribune today for our website. I see some nice hits coming in this evening. Exciting Stuff!

Little Angels Playschool in Kells

Little Angels Playschool in Kells have chosen MyChildcare.ie to advertise their facilities. Welcome to Louise and the crew there!

The guilt that can come with Childcare

I wrote a little article for Dad.ie on the guilt that can come with Childcare, from my own experience. It basically pertains to childcare being a positive thing, but not a stronger influence then homelife on a child... so it's all good!

http://www.dad.ie/fatherhood.aspx

Grow Montessori in Malahide have today created a full page advert with MyChildcare.ie. Welcome to Lisa and everyone at Grow!

ABC Creche in Dublin 1

ABC Creche in Dublin 1 have chosen to advertise with MyChildcare.ie. A big welcome to Ethna and the gang there!

Childcare and childcare benefit in the news this week

Childcare and childcare benefit in the news this week. See http://www.mychildcare.ie/news.asp and our budget section also.

The rules for parents are but three... love, limit, and let them be!

November Newsletter from our parent coach is now on the website "The rules for parents are but three... love, limit, and let them be!"
http://www.mychildcare.ie/parentcoach.asp

ECCE scheme members now searchable on the site

We made a change to the website that you can now filter your search for childcare only to those providers that are in the ECCE scheme if you wish!

http://www.MyChildcare.ie/search.asp

New things are coming!

Just out of a meeting with a possible large partnership website that you will all know of! Watch this space in the coming weeks ;-)

Primary Schools in Ireland

Looking for a Primary School? We have added a new Primary School finder to our website, available from the Parents Menu on every page. Here's a direct link: http://www.mychildcare.ie/primaryschoolsearch.asp

Links Section Now Available

We have added a new useful links section which we will keep updated: http://www.mychildcare.ie/links.asp

Budget 2010 and childcare - Keep up-to-date on MyChildcare.ie from today

We are all preparing for the Budget 2010 which will be presented to the Dáil on Wednesday, 9th December 2009. Here at MyChildcare.ie we preparing to keep you up to date with the latest budget news related to childcare and child benefit. You can visit the budget 2010 section which already has some news items in it here: www.MyChildcare.ie/Budget2010. This Budget 2010 section will be kept up-to-date in the run to up and indeed after the budget is delivered.


We have also added some new news items to MyChildcare.ie News. You can view all the news items at www.MyChildcare.ie/News.


Finally we have made some new changes to the site layout to help you better navigate your way around Ireland’s fastest growing childcare finder.


Thanks and talk soon,


Adrian and the MyChildcare.ie Team

Latets News Added

Some latest childcare and childrens allowance news added to our news section: http://www.mychildcare.ie/news.asp

Everybody loves FREE!!!

So, for your child, or for the big kid in you we have some free games for you to play in our new Kid Zone! VISIT OUR KID ZONE TO PLAY FREE GAMES!!

Fiigure and Stats

We just passed the 24,000 unique visitors mark, and our google adverts have been shown over half a million times. Thanks for following us!

Christmas Lights up already!!?

Well, since the lights are up in all the shopping centers we decided to festive-up the site banner at the top: Sorry, I know it's early!!
http://www.mychildcare.ie

October Parent Coach News Letter now online!

Hi there. Our October News Letter from our Parent Coach is now online:

CLICK HERE TO READ IT

"Choice means saying no to one thing so you can say yes to another"
Dan Millman. One (and there are many!) of the most confusing things about being a new parent is trying to interpret all the advice the so called 'experts' give.... read more at
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

Welcome to Busy Bears Playschool!

Busy bears in Dublin 13 have just created a premium advert on MyChildcare.ie. Welcome to Fiona and the team there!

The Stark Reality - The Difficulties of Running a Childcare Business in Ireland Today!

http://www.mychildcare.ie/news26102009.asp

We received an email this week on the back of a recent news article we published (Nearly 80% of preschools are reporting fewer children on their books in the last 12 months). We felt that we had to publish this email as it paints a stark reality of the way the childcare sector currently is and just how difficult it is for some business owners to survive in the current climate. The email reads:

Hi Adrian,

I am just one of those people who closed my doors on Friday following ten years in business. My numbers had dropped down to 5 and full capacity is 20. I have 30 years experience in child care and I am fully qualified to grade 7 . I had taken up the whole matter with the government and my questions were raised in the DAIL by Rory Quinn. To no avail I called in county child care Committee to see if they could help out and whilst they were sympathetic there is no help available.

Who am I now but an unemployed single mother with a mortgage to pay and i wont receive benefit for at least 12 weeks because I was self employed. My Staff member is also unemployed and my 3 students are now looking for new placements too.

I have a complete school now packed away and I am hoping to see if any of the overseas charities would have use for it because I want to see children benefit. I have been in childcare for 10 years and it was all because i loved my work, not because I was earning a packet.

Thanks

Kind regards

Preschools experience reduction in child numbers

Preschools experience reduction in child numbers - RTE News Clip Nearly 80% of preschools are reporting fewer children on their books in the last 12 months.
The IPPA said half of the preschools questioned blamed the recession while 42% said parents were waiting for the introduction of the new preschool places in January (ECCE).
You can watch the full news article from RTE National News here on MyChildcare.ie

Win a Trunki Suitcase - Free with MyChildcare.ie!

Full Prize Draw information at: http://www.mychildcare.ie/win.asp

That's right, now thanks to www.iBagsIt.com, by simply making an enquiry to any childcare facility with a premium advert on MyChildcare.ie you will automatically be entered into an amazing draw to win a Trunki ride-on suitcase for your little person! When you make an enquiry via the online contact form of ANY premium advert on our site we will store your email address for entry into the competition.

Premium Adverts appear at the top of the search results (above the Basic Listings). Competition is not open to friends and family of the MyChildcare.ie team . The email addresses of the winners will be random and independently drawn from all entrants. The results are final. One entry per person (i.e. the email address you use to make your enquiry will only be entered into the draw once)

The competition runs from October 22nd 2009 until 31st December 2009. We will inform the winners early Jan 2010. Good luck!!
Trunki Information - So, what exactly is a Trunki

Creche funds slashed by 90%

http://www.mychildcare.ie/news16102009.asp

Creche funds slashed by 90%

By Claire O’Sullivan
THE Government has slashed its promised investment in community creches by 90%.
Just €11 million is to be spent by the Government on capital works at community creches next year – compared with the €125 million promised.
The National Childcare Investment Programme announced in 2008 it would spend €125 million on capital projects at community creches in 2009, but by autumn, applications for just €85 million of grants were sanctioned by Pobal, who run the NCIP for the department.
However, due to the worsening economic crisis, the last stage of the approval process was deferred in November and when the allocations were eventually announced in recent weeks, it emerged just €10.6 million is being spent on 29 projects.
Fine Gael children’s spokesman Deputy Alan Shatter said it made no sense to cancel vital capital projects when construction prices were low.
"It has now emerged after questions from me to the minister for children that funding for only 29 childcare facilities has been secured with a total budget of €10.6 million, a fraction of the original, to be allocated next year," he said.
"It should not have required a Dáil question and correspondence with the minister to uncover the true extent to which the Government had cut back this scheme. It makes no sense to cancel capital projects like this which are vital to communities when the building industry is crying out for jobs," said Mr Shatter.
In the answer to the parliamentary question, the Office of the Minister for Children (OMC) said the projects funded this year were chosen as they were "high priority".
"Key criteria in determining priority applications were severe disadvantage and where an existing community service was in danger of closure if necessary repairs required by the HSE Inspectorate could not be carried out," the parliamentary reply said.
According to the OMC, €100m was drawn down from the NCIP by the end of last year and €80m more will be drawn down by the years end, excluding the high priority projects.
This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner

http://www.mychildcare.ie/news16102009.asp

Parents in shock as creche is shut down overnight

http://www.mychildcare.ie/news16102009_1.asp

Parents in shock as creche is shut down overnight

DISTRAUGHT parents arrived at a creche early yesterday morning only to find a note on the door saying it was closed because of "unforeseen circumstances".
The families, who had paid childcare fees and deposits in advance at the Angel Academy in Stillorgan, Co Dublin, are now seeking to recoup an estimated €24,000 from the owners of the business who could not be contacted last night.
Among the parents who turned up was Trish Doherty, who had planned to drop her four-year-old daughter Holly at the creche yesterday before work.
Trish and her husband Jim joined a group of confused parents outside the Angel Academy. They had all found a brief notice on the window stating the creche was closed.
"We arrived at the creche to find the car park full of cars and my husband said: 'What's going on here?' The place was in darkness. There was just a note up saying it was closed due to unforeseen circumstances until further notice," said Mrs Doherty. Around 20 families had to then make last-minute childcare arrangements as an alternative. They expressed shock as they told of how the locks on the premises had been changed during the time the children were collected on Thursday evening and yesterday morning. Personal belongings for the children remained inside the building. Meanwhile, three staff members were told of the closure by text message on Thursday evening. Some of the parents also received this text.
Employee Kathleen Killeen said she was owed about €2,000 in back-pay for September, adding that parents had paid €24,000 in advance deposits and fees.
"The parents pay a deposit and a month in advance. Parents had paid for service in October," she said.
Fees
The creche is owned by sisters Tanya and Natasha Lucas. Neither returned calls from the Irish Independent last night.
Ms Doherty -- who works full-time, as does her husband -- said she spoke to one parent who had to bring his child to work with him as he had no alternative when he found the creche shut. Ms Doherty had paid €580 in fees for five hours a day for the care of her child until the end of the month.
"It was a great little creche. Now we are going to have to set up a whole now routine for her and a whole new creche," she said. "Holly doesn't know what is going on."
By Shane Hickey of the Irish Independent

http://www.mychildcare.ie/news16102009_1.asp

Reduction in number of new childcare places

http://www.mychildcare.ie/news17102009.asp
THOUSANDS OF new childcare places which were due to be created by next year will not come on stream despite record numbers of births in recent years.
Under the Government’s national childcare investment plan, a total of 50,000 childcare places were due to be created between 2006 and 2010.
Latest figures show the number of places likely to created by the end of next year will be in the region of 25,000 to 30,000 according to official documents.
Despite the reduction in the number of new places, the Office of the Minister for Children anticipates there will be more than enough places for children to avail of its plan to provide a year’s free pre-school.
This scheme, due to come into force from January next year, will provide a year’s free pre-school place for all children born on or between February 2nd, 2005 and June 30th, 2006.
In documents submitted by the Department of Health to the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes, also known as An Bord Snip Nua, it states that €97 million out of €188 million in capital grant aid has been expended since 2006.
This, it says, will result in the creation of 25,500 childcare places. When investment planned for 2010 is factored in, it says the total number of places is likely to be more than 30,000.
If the economic downturn had not happened, it says the existing level of capital grant commitments would be significantly higher and the programme’s targets would have been fully met by the end of this year.
In a statement yesterday, Fine Gael’s spokesman on children, Alan Shatter TD, said a substantial number of childcare projects were being left in limbo without any realistic prospect of receiving funding.
“There is no doubt in anyone’s mind as to the dire financial circumstances the Fianna Fáil/Green Government has landed the country in, but it makes no sense to cancel capital projects like this which are vital to communities when the building industry is crying out for jobs and it is possible to get work done more economically than for over a decade,” Mr Shatter said.
In a statement yesterday, the Office of the Minister for Children confirmed that over 25,000 new childcare places will be provided by the end of next year.
It said a total of €180 million in capital grant applications was allocated by the end of 2008 of which €100 million was drawn down. The outstanding €80 million will be drawn down during 2009-2010.
Significant amounts of funding had not been drawn down due to a review of public expenditure, in particular in relation to new capital commitments.
As a result, these applications were put on hold until April of this year and the investment plan was closed to new applicants.
In addition, just over €10 million has been sanctioned in recent months to enable a number of existing services, which were in urgent need of funding to meet Health Service Executive requirements, to stay in operation.
A key criteria in determining priority applications were severe disadvantage and where an existing community service was in danger of closure if necessary repairs required by Health Service Executive inspectors, could not be carried out.
Mr Shatter said there has been a “veil of secrecy” over the way the childcare investment programme’s budget was reduced.
“The operation of this important programme to provide childcare facilities of a proper standard has lacked essential transparency,” he said.
This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times by CARL O'BRIEN Social Affairs Correspondent
http://www.mychildcare.ie/news17102009.asp

Pre-school may be difficult to access in rural areas

http://www.mychildcare.ie/news17102009_1.asp

OIREACHTAS COMMITTEE: PARENTS OF children in rural areas who are eligible for a year’s free pre-school may have difficulties accessing a childcare provider participating in the scheme, Minister for Children Barry Andrews said yesterday.
Speaking at the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children, Mr Andrews said that the free pre-school year will benefit some 70,000 children in up to 4,200 pre-school services across the State.
He said pre-schools would be able to supply more than enough places for children, but conceded there might be shortfalls in some local areas. “There will be some local shortfalls . . . rural areas may well experience some difficulties, but this is a very good business opportunity for childcare providers. Where there are difficulties in rural areas, people will come into the market and it will correct itself,” Mr Andrews said.
In total, pre-schools with a capacity of 96,000 places have applied to participate in the scheme which is due to begin in January of next year, almost twice the number of places that are needed initially.
While some have questioned whether pre-schools will meet requirements over new standards and staff qualifications, he said the great majority of these schools already meet these standards.
In the area of adoption, Mr Andrews was unable to say when a new agreement with Vietnam will be signed that could allow for the resumption of adoptions from the country. He said two major reports – prepared in co-operation with the Vietnamese government and Unicef – examining intercountry adoption in Vietnam go to the “heart of the matter in relation to concerns over adoptions in the country”.
“I would be failing in my duty to protect children if I did not acknowledge and consider the content of these reports extremely carefully before deciding on next steps,” Mr Andrews said.
Separately, the Minister responded to criticism of child protection services and said moves to fill some 270 social work posts will help to improve the standard of care available to vulnerable children and their families.
This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times by CARL O'BRIEN Social Affairs Correspondent
http://www.mychildcare.ie/news17102009_1.asp

Report highlights childcare deficit

http://www.mychildcare.ie/news17102009_2.asp

A new report on the provision of childcare for school-going children has found that there are waiting lists for more than half of the services in Dublin city.
Dublin City Childcare Committee surveyed 168 providers of school-age childcare in the city. Schools were the biggest providers of after school services, followed by community groups and private operators.
The survey found that the current supply of places was "clearly not meeting demand". It found that many services did not have dedicated outdoor play spaces and said the lack of availability of appropriate premises was "a serious difficulty" for providers.
"In particular, the issue of obtaining planning permission was identified as long-drawn out and quite often unsuccessful," the School-Age Childcare in Dublin City report said.
It called for regulations and guidelines to aid the development of the sector and said training for school-age childcare workers should be made more widely available.
This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times by ALISON HEALYhttp://www.mychildcare.ie/news17102009_2.asp

School-age childcare places inadequate, survey finds

http://www.mychildcare.ie/news17102009_3.asp

The LACK of childcare for school-going children in Dublin city has been highlighted in a new report from the Dublin City Childcare Committee.
It surveyed 168 providers of school-age childcare in the city and found that more than half of them had waiting lists for the 5,215 places they provided. Committee chairwoman Anne Conroy said the waiting lists were significant in many cases. "It wasn't just a waiting list of two or three. In lots of places they had 20 or 30 per cent of their number of places on their waiting list."
The survey found schools were the biggest providers of after school services, followed by community groups and private operators.
It found that many services did not have dedicated outdoor play spaces and said the lack of availability of appropriate premises was "a serious difficulty" for providers.
"In particular, the issue of obtaining planning permission was identified as long-drawn out and quite often unsuccessful," the School-Age Childcare in Dublin City report said.
Ms Conroy said there was a growing demand for the introduction of standards and regulations for the sector.
"Why is it okay for a three-year old to go to an earlier service that has standards, that's regulated and inspected and for the six- or seven-year-old to go a school-age after school programme that's completely unregulated with no standards?" she asked. "The answer is, it's not."
Minister for Children Barry Andrews said he had given almost no thought to this sector as his department was focused on the provision of pre-school childcare up to now. School age childcare was an area that was now "ripe for policy development", he said.
Mr Andrews said after-school services had developed in an unplanned way but a clamour was building for regulation and standards in the sector. "And it's probably now the time to do that . . . My office is very keen to do that."
The report also calls for more widespread training for school-age childcare workers, because of the different skills needed to work with older children.
Joan Whelan from the Ranelagh Multi-Denominational School said the advantages of after-school care for children were "huge" but it cost money to provide the service.
Her school employs three full-time staff and other part-time workers to provide after-school care from 1.10pm-6.15pm.
"You can't provide a quality service on the cheap," she said. "It's not just a matter of throwing back the old desks and chairs and making a nice big space and letting the kids in there to play."
She said financial supports were "absolutely crucial" to running the scheme.
Ms Whelan also said the school had noticed the increasing financial pressure on parents using the service in recent months. "We're noticing the squeeze at the moment . . . people needing places at short notice . . . people taking three days where they would really like to have their kids in for five."
This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times by ALISON HEALY
http://www.mychildcare.ie/news17102009_3.asp

Welcome to the MyChildcare.ie Web Blog

Hi everyone,

This is our first post on the MyChildcare.ie blog. We are broadcasting all news updates for the childcare sector on Facebook and Twitter already so this is our brand new channel on Blogger.com.

To view our site, and our links to our other social network areas go to http://www.mychildcare.ie/ today!

Thanks for Visiting,

Adrian and the MyChildcare.ie Team