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Mixed reaction to childcare funding

There was a mixed reaction this week to the announcement that €158,500 was to be allocated to three childcare projects in the Dublin 15 area under the capital grant programme of the National Childcare Investment Programme (NCIP) 2006- 2010.

Rachel Prouse of Missus Tattys Nursery was understandably “delighted” to be receiving the full grant of €100,000 to totally revamp her premises in the Littlepace Shopping Centre. “This is wonderful news,” she said. “It means that we can go ahead and totally revamp the premises into a premier, state of the art facility. The kitchen is very long and narrow and we can now change the shape of it to make it more user-friendly. This in turn will mean that we can utilise the space better to provide more of a service to the local community.”

The nursery currently caters for almost seventy children ranging in age from babies up to 10 years old. “There are a lot of families in this area,” says Rachel, “and maximising our potential is vital in an area like this. This grant is wonderful. Hopefully, we will be able to get all the work done in one go, perhaps over the Easter holidays to lessen the impact on the families that use the facility.”

On the other hand, Siobhan Moore, Financial Director of Giraffe Childcare and Early Learning Centres expressed her “disappointment” at only being allocated €40,000 of the full grant of €100,000 that the Clonsilla centre applied for.

“When you consider that we are providing places for 130 children, the grant represents a rather miserly €308 per child,” she said. “We would like to expand and provide even more of a service to the area but unfortunately this money will not go very much further than providing fixtures and fittings and perhaps some equipment. The disappointing thing is that this is a once-off grant and we will not be able to apply again next year.

“We are providing a much needed service in Dublin 15 and to be frank expected more support from the Government.”

Similar disenchantment with the size of her award was expressed by Anne Crawford, who runs School Kids Aloud Limited in the Parish Centre in Main Street, Castleknock. “To be frank, I am quite devastated by the size of the grant,” said Anne, who received €18,500 under the programme. “I have put so much time and effort into getting this project off the ground and have had to run a veritable gauntlet of red tape.

“We are the only dedicated after-school care service for 4 – 12 years in the area and getting the project off the ground last year was a nightmare. I applied for a grant of €45,000 – which completely underestimated the cost required – and to have been left short by such a sum is quite a kick in the teeth, to be honest.”

Despite the disappointment, the three groups at least received a share of the €39million that was dished out nationally under the scheme. There are presumably many applicants in the Dublin 15 area who received nothing at all and the fact that only three of the 216 centres to receive funding are from the Dublin 15 area is bound to raise a few eyebrows.

However, Minister Brian Lenihan TD has warmly welcomed the news of the allocation to Dublin 15 childcare centres saying “these grants provide Government assistance to ensure the creation of further childcare places to meet with the growing demand. The level of the grants provided show the Government's commitment to the continued expansion of the childcare sector.”

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