Dublin City Council rubber-stamps move towards not-for-profit creches in the capital
Dublin City Council (DCC) is to get far more involved in the city’s childcare sector under new plans green-lit by councillors this week.
Under the new strategy, which was developed by a cross-party working group in collaboration with council executives, the Department of Children and others, the authority will place more emphasis on not-for-profit creches over private facilities.
A new childcare pilot is proposed under the document, which would see DCC and the Department of Children collaborate on creating two creches in the city, an English-speaking facility first, followed by an Irish-speaking one.
This dovetails with the government’s broader state-led childcare push, which earlier this year saw minister for children Norma Foley allocate €135m for the purchase and fit out of a raft of not-for-profit facilities around the country.
It is understood that the DCC facilities will be progressed as part of this strategy, in tandem with the Department of Children, although the locations and timelines for the new facilities have not been finalised.
The second element of the council’s strategy will involve commissioning a report into the feasibility of several delivery models for childcare in the capital, with varying levels of state intervention.
These include direct state-led delivery, a not-for-profit partnership, a DCC-owned not-for-profit company and the setting up of a Special Purpose vehicle (SPV), joint-owned by the Department and DCC.
The goal is to establish the best delivery model for childcare provision city-wide, to be rolled out in the coming years, with a focus on providing services in under-served and economically disadvantaged areas.
Around 70pc of childcare services in Dublin city are provided by private, for-profit operators, but supply is continuing to fall far short of demand, particularly for children between one and three years old and those with additional needs.
This leads to lengthy delays in the system, with a recent Irish Independent analysis finding that nationwide, 82pc of providers have a waiting list longer than a year.
“Private providers remain an important part of the system, but market provision alone does not guarantee supply, affordability or equity in the places where need is greatest,” reads the report authored by DCC assistant chief executive Eileen Quinlivan.
“The Working Group builds on the recognition of childcare as social and community infrastructure already established in the Dublin City Development Plan.
“It proposes a clearer Council policy framework for coordinating DCC’s existing functions and partnerships to support additional, sustainable, affordable not-for-profit childcare in publicly-linked buildings.”
Representatives welcomed the new approach to childcare at this week’s council meeting, with Social Democrats councillor Cian Farrell saying there would be a “pipeline” of council housing coming available out to 2030, which is where the search for potential sites would start.
“There is a lot of people making a lot of money in the childcare space at the moment. That’s being seen for parents in fees, and I think we could do a lot there to reduce that cost and improve accessibility,” he said.