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