'This is a crisis' - Fears over Kilkenny childcare shortages

Sinn Fein TD for Carlow-Kilkenny, Natasha Newsome Drennan has told Kilkenny Live she is 'stunned' that up to eight out of ten children across Kilkenny under the age of six have no access to Early Learning and Care (ELC) services.

Kilkenny County Childcare Committee provided Deputy Newsome Drennan with research based on CSO data that showed current Early Learning and Care provision can only accommodate between 11% to 29% of the local community’s needs.

The Piltown area is by far the worst affected, with no full time placement for nearly 90% of children under six years.

Castlecomer, a town with over 2,000 children under the age of six, and has 492 fulltime ELC places for this age group. That leaves 75% of children with no access to a place.

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In Kilkenny City, has 2,500 children under six years old and has 725 full time ELC places, that leaves 70% of these children with no access.

Meanwhile, Callan-Thomastown has approximately 2,200 children under the age of six years old, with only 440 full time places for that age group, this leaves 80% of children with no full-time placement. The Piltown area is by far the worst affected, with no full time placement for nearly 90% of children under six years.

"A survey carried out by Kilkenny County Childcare Committee showed that across Kilkenny there is currently zero vacancies across the different providers," Deputy Drennan noted.

"This is a crisis that should have alarm bells sounding. We have a growing population, parents eager to find a place in childcare to support their child’s development and allow the parents to return to work. This is creating a difficult position for so many families across the county.

"Years of under-investment in childcare across Kilkenny has brought this crisis to a tipping point," she argued.

"We need to see a long-term plan to sufficiently increase the number of places in Early Learning and Care facilities as the current number of places are falling completely short," the local TD concluded.

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