Meath Mum ‘was not prepared’ for childcare struggles as 1,745 children left on crèche waiting lists
A young mother in Meath has described the stress and frustration of trying to secure a crèche place for her son, as new figures reveal that 1,745 children under the age of three in the county are stuck on waiting lists.
“The waiting period for crèche was something I was not prepared for as a new mum. I prepared for the sleepless nights and the baby blues and everything in between, but I was not prepared for the reality of looking for a crèche spot,” Mary* said.
She said that when her son was just six weeks old, she began phoning local providers. “Most of the crèches I spoke to said they had no spaces available until 2027 or 2028. My son would be four years old then. They asked if I still wanted to be placed on the waiting list and I said yes because I had no choice.”
After moving to Athboy last year, she contacted the crèche closest to her home — just a five-minute walk away — only to be told that no spaces were available until September 2026. In the meantime, the family turned to a childminder so she could return to work, but the arrangement has been far from easy.
“We looked into childminders so I could return to work, and although this has been working for us since my little one was eight months old, it has been very stressful as a little family with no friends or family in the area. That means that when my childminder is off, one of us would have to be off work as well.”
She added: “We also have to pay €1,000 a month for childcare with no means to avail of the National Childcare Scheme.”
“After putting my son’s name on almost every crèche list in Meath, we were recently offered a crèche place, but it’s so far away that I’d have to commute almost two hours a day just to drop off and pick up my now 12 months old son.”
Meanwhile, Sinn Féin spokesperson on Education and Youth, Darren O’Rourke TD, has described the waiting list situation as “utterly shocking.”
Figures released by Early Childhood Ireland show that 40,000 children nationwide are currently on waiting lists for a crèche place.
In Meath alone, 289 children under the age of one are waiting, with just three places available; 767 children aged one to two are waiting, with 16 places available; and 689 children aged two to three are waiting, with only 176 places available.
“This is a damning indictment of the government’s failure to grasp the scale of the childcare crisis,” Deputy O’Rourke said.
“Behind these staggering numbers are thousands of parents, predominantly women, unable to return to work, and thousands of children being denied access to the vital early learning that they should have.”
Mr O’Rourke said low pay and poor conditions for early years staff are driving people out of the sector, reducing capacity further.
“Every year the early years education sector loses talented and good people due to poor pay and conditions. The early years education sector has faced years of neglect. The compensation for staff falls short of the professional wages needed to retain qualified staff.”
He added: “The government cannot step back and ignore this problem or continue to push the blame onto individual providers. It has rightly been said that the government is the primary funder of the sector.”
"The issues of losing staff and not having capacity in crèches is not isolated to one town or village, and not having capacity in crèches is presenting itself across the county and across the state. There must be a change of attitude from the government in their approach to resolving this issue.”
*Name has been changed in this article.