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LAST UPDATE | 18 Dec 2019
A ONCE-OFF €1,500 payment is to be given to each childcare provider to help them deal with extra insurance costs arising from the withdrawal from one insurer from the market.
The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Katherine Zappone today announced the additional payment which will be made in the coming days.
She acknowledged that it had been “difficult year” for the sector.
The additional money comes as concerns mount in relation to the rising cost of insurance for childcare providers.
Making the funding the announcement, the minister said she wanted to acknowledge the “pressures” services have faced in 2019 and to acknowledge the pressure and stress that deadlines bring.
The funding of €7 million will facilitate an additional payment of about €1,500 on average to individual providers with the actual amount varying according to the size of the creche or daycare centre.
The minister told the emergency meeting of the Joint Committee on Children and Youth Affairs that the average creche is being facing a 100% increase in their insurance premium as a result of having to move to Allianz insurance company.
During Leaders’ Questions today, Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald urged the government to provide a one-off payment to help childcare businesses.
However, the Taoiseach dismissed the idea, stating that it would be “reckless”.
“If an insurer is unable to provide cover for a particular facility, be it a crèche, a childcare provider or anything else, there may be a good reason for that. There may be a very high risk attached to insuring it. For the State to wander in blindly and offer to cover the bills of a private company or even a public body, no questions asked, would be entirely reckless,” he said.
A few hours later, Minister Zappone made the payment announcement having met with Finance and Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe earlier today to discuss the childcare sector’s concerns about insurance hikes.
Donohoe met with the minister earlier today to discuss the concerns.
This morning, a group representing childcare providers said that “thousands of families” could be left without childcare in the new year due to an “imminent insurance crisis” in the sector.
“I am really aware of how important the crèches are on all over the country for families particularly in the run up to Christmas,” Donohoe said this afternoon.
“I am aware of the challenges the sector is now facing due to another insurance provider now, not wanting to provide cover for next year. So I will be working with Minister Zappone on this matter, to see if there is anything that can make a difference,” he said.
Donohoe also said today that contact has been made with the insurance sector to discuss the issue, but he didn’t want to comment on any discussions.
“We are working hard to see if we can come up with a plan to ensure that families know where the crèches are going to be, if they’re going to be open next year. I have a lot of experience of the anxiety that can be caused by families not being aware if they will have a creche in the future,” he said.
He added that he couldn’t offer a guarantee that no crèche would close.
In the Dáil today, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that he had also met with Zappone. He said that close to all childcare providers are registered for next year.
He added: “So people can be given the reassurance that they’re not going to find out when they go back to their creche or childcare provider in the early new year after the holidays that they’re not open, they will be open.
“That’s not to say that there won’t be difficulties finding insurance in the next few weeks.
“As things stand, only one underwriter is currently providing insurance to child care providers, following the exit of Ironshore from the market.”
Varadkar said that a “very small number of high risk services” may not receive quotations from the alternative insurance provider.
Emergency meeting
During the emergency meeting of the committee this afternoon, Fine Gael’s Alan Farrell, who chairs the committee, said that they were concern about the fact that “more than 1,000 crèches could face closure because of rising insurance costs”.
“Childcare operators are finding it difficult to get a quote for cover after a number of companies withdrew from the market. This leaves parents in the run up to Christmas in fear of losing their childcare, staff concerned about their jobs and business owners forced through high insurance costs to leave the sector,” he said in a statement.
The crisis has come after Ironshore Europe, one of the biggest insurers in the childcare sector, withdrew from the Irish market.
The knock-on effect has seen creches and other childcare facilities being quoted inflated insurance renewal costs and providers warning that they may be forced to close.
The Federation of Early Childcare Providers has said that many preschools are facing hikes from 1 January.
The group says preschools facing closure are preparing to send letters to parents this week.
Spokesperson for the group Elaine Dunne told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland today that, while some insurance providers are offering cover, premiums are being hiked by 100% or more.
Dunne says she runs two creches in south Dublin and that they are at risk due to the current crisis.
For me it means that we might have to close up, no one knows really what we’re going to do. We don’t have enough money…. One of them that would be my smallest one, and that would be 22 children and four staff.
Dunne says she’s aware of creches that have already made the decision to close their doors.
“It’s just gone beyond, you know, comprehension at this stage. We need the minister to meet with us, she needs to sit down and talk to us. The Taoiseach needs to support us here, the government, we need the help. We cannot do this on our own.”
I mean, I’m looking at my Whatsapp group this morning on the amount of people saying that they may have to close up, mainly it’s really hitting the ECC scheme, which only open in the morning, they may have a class in the morning and a class in the afternoon as well. And it looks like a lot of those little services are going to close down and they are really important services.
“My heart goes out to the children, parents, staff and owners of these crèches, facing into such uncertainty only a week before Christmas,” AIR member and play centre owner LInda Murray said last night.
I am well aware of the intense stress and fear this situation causes having gone through it earlier this year. The Alliance calls on the Government to intervene immediately to ensure that all crèches and other child-related facilities get covered by whatever means necessary to keep them operating.
Criticism
In the Dáil today, Fianna Fáil leader Micheal Martin said that providers have been given weeks to find an alternative insurance provider.
“This is without question causing stress and anxiety, not just for providers, but for many, many parents who simply will not be in the position to find alternative places,” he said.
“I would have to say the government’s response to date so far has been very confusing. It’s been very slow off the mark and it’s incredible the degree to which the government seems to be caught by surprise.”
With reporting by Christina Finn, Dominic McGrath and Press Association
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Sizeable fines OR Community Work should be imposed, along with deductions from salary/dole to go towards replacement of equipment.
@Me Me: not going to happen, the law only applies to law abiding citizens. If they’ve no fear of being caught, then there is no deterrent to stop them doing what their doing.
@Electro Box: Ireland loves privatising once government bodies… they should do that with prisons.
@P. V. Aglue: it’s getting to the point that the social contract we have with those in authority is crumbling. No one trusts that dep of justice the guards or other government departments will or can do anything. Might as well employ vigilantes to go after these people
I am sorry to hear that such occurred. Ireland isn’t the Ireland that I grew up in. Give me back the 70s and 80s again. We may have had nothing, but next door had little more, if that. And I fear that this is just the start of it.
6 individuals, I bet my house on it, that the nationality comes into question. But of course, even if caught, it won’t be made public, we wouldn’t want to show up those who give out the social welfare payments to the group. And still, there isn’t enough here so open up, let’s increase the population a little bit more, for the next 5 years. Put more strain on resources, watch the Irish die due to the lack of care/support but that doesn’t matter as long as we keep Europe happy. May as well scrap the Irish constitution and slap us with the European one. I digress
@John Aherne: get outta here with that sentimental claptrap. We had a police force, courts and prisons in the 70’s and 80’s, as I recall. They weren’t standing around doing nothing waiting for crime to reach Ireland
@John Aherne: word salad and you seems to think the solution is simple. It isn’t. What a time to be alive !
@offside again: What a time to be alive – Yeah, especially if you win the AHB lottery and get a €600-800k home for nothing from our housing quangos + the state pays to rear your kids.
Not so good if you’re a regular couple that want to buy a home and do the right things – then you’re bidding against government quangos + foreign and Irish investors and end up paying over 1/2 a million for a crummy ex corpo house.
@Electro Box: the country is mismanaged, no doubt about it.
It’s run by Irish people. So work that one out …
@John Aherne: Absolutely spot on John… but sssshhhh as we’ll appear as far right racists.
@offside again: Use a logical approach to resolving it to some degree, hard work, and keep on top of the foundation that has been laid down. Nobody mentioned that it was going to be simple. But, seeing your comment along with another, simple does show face, but I would never kick simple when it thinks it’s an enthusiastic time to be alive.
@Donna Fallon: Thank you, Donna. I’ll be sure to keep sssshhhh on it. It’ll be our little secret. Many thanks for the tip.
Racist, if we were all to be cut, we bleed the same colour. I see nothing racist in that (the latter for those who deem me one)
@Ronan Mc: One day, you might even make sense. Another day, you may complete a sentence.
@John Aherne: what ?
@Ronan Mc: Yes, and Dublin is very safe, Helen McEntee said so!
@John Aherne: what are you in all that is not mighty talking about? Have you ever lived near Aungier Street? No you haven’t because I know by reading your nonsense you have not. It’s always had burglaries, it’s always had muggings, it’s always had a lot of issues with “our own” crowd even if this was carried out by non-nationals. You are so deluded if you think you know our city centre.
@John Aherne: lads come on. Only a few months ago. All these morans as u call them. Where re elected by us the irish people. And we will continue to do so. So we have made our bed as we always do. So now we must lie in the it.
@John Flanagan: Now, with that, I concur. The definition of insanity
@TheGood Feign: By your definition, Dublin is indeed a kip. I concur. And you are correct, I do not live in the kip, nor would I want to live in the kip. Your city center has been all over the news, not in a good light. I believe the best part of “your city” can be viewed in the rear view mirror of a car. Deluded I am not, I am well aware of the fact that “your city” is a kip, as to which you have confirmed, confirmation that wasn’t needed, but keyboard warriors will do what keyboard warriors do. You think, therefore, you are!
@Ronan Mc: well they were letting the Catholic Church get away with literally anything for decades so…
@Electro Box:There is no fault in anything that you mentioned. Those in government, although not my first choice, what is the alternative. SF would bring this country to its knees, in my opinion. So we are stuck at the moment with what we have. There is no point in having the Taliban coffee mornings so to bitch about what’s going on, health, housing, immigration etc etc. As for religion, it has done nothing but cause wars. The “good book”, in that, the man upstairs has killed in the millions, the guy downstairs, less than a dozen. The freakish ideas of Lotts two daughters, the toying with Abraham to sacrifice his son, and this is in the same faith. Now mix cultures, and see what you get. I am glad to be an evolutionist. Recently, I read an article here, Valentines Day stabbing. Go figure
@John Aherne: you missed the gang violence on the 70S and the crime caused by heroin addiction in the 80s. Dublin is far safer today
@JoeJoe Kilbride: Dublin is far safer now, er, um, is that the line from the previous minister for justice, as she walked aided by Garda on either side of her? Do you have such security with you, seeing that you’d be quite comfortable to venture through the streets and lanes of the city. I did not miss the violence of those decades, but if memory serves me, it was Dublin, the “goodfeign guys Dublin,” that was affected. And it spread through the country thereafter, and today, we can see how bad the country is with all that stuff and more. You can keep your city, and I’ll extend the border to the county itself, and I’ll stick to my piece of the country. I know which is on the news a lot more, and it isn’t here where I am located.
@John Aherne: There was a documentary on about Hutch the last two weeks and it featured Dublin City centre and the crime sprees these gangs went on in the 70s and 80d and everything about it, the city in particular looked grim. Not to mention the mass emigration of the time. Everyone seems to look back at everything through rose tinted glasses. That said I don’t know why the book just isn’t thrown at these people when caught.
@John Moore: Rose tinted vision, I again find myself in agreement. At the time, the West was not affected, and Dublin was in the media at the time. When it wasn’t on my doorstep, it could easily be dismissed as, ” That’s up there, not here.” But, bejaysus, did it spread throughout the country like wildfire. Within the court system, logic has no place inside those doors. The truth has no place inside those doors. It’s the best story that wins. With a judicial system like that, revolving door syndrome occurs, Gardaí at a loss as to what to do, when all of their hard work counts for nothing. Two things that haven’t improved in the last 40 years are, 1. the legal system, and the 2nd, the health system.
@TheGood Feign: I’m just listening to radio 1, American tourists in an airbandb circa Pearce Street. Some guy comes in at 12.30 am while they’re watching TV. Wearing a bala and bringing his trusty knife with him, proceeded to take said TV off the wall, he then creates a comedy of errors (he must be a Dub) trying to get out with TV under his arm. What a lovely kip to live in!
Suspect in fatal stabbing of Quham Babatunde on South Anne Street was on bail for violent incident involving knife.
@Chris: if true,I’m not a bit surprised.
@Chris: But But there’s no unvetted people coming into the country the government said, seems like alot of these asylum seekers are running for justice elsewhere, one arrested today in Belfast running back to the UK, I wonder where else he ran from, why aren’t the media naming those arrested, trying to hide shit from people again at the request of the government I suppose.
Horrible to see this happen, but are you seriously telling me that 300€ in a tip jar was left there overnight?
@Electro Box: That’s fair, but those jars are emptied and divided at end of day. They may leave some change in for next day.
The Government are far too soft on people who are found guilty of theft/burglary. You read about people being convicted and it says it is their 10th conviction or whatever number you want to choose.
There is absolutely no deterrent, because they are likely to either get off for a first offence, or they get a very short sentence. And if they do get a sentence, they only serve half of it.
Then you have all these civil liberty type, do gooders that says prison does not work. You have to look at the causes of them stealing. Yes of course you do but there should be far stiffer sentences for those who commit crimes.
It is ridiculous that the guards spend so much time and resources in actually catching some offenders, and then the judge lets them off. Only for them to reoffend.
It is wokeism at its best, even though I hate using that term. Simon Harris is a perfect example of this, coming on and condemning crimes but doing absolutely nothing that will deter them.
@Joseph Fitzgibbon: We have to bring in 3 strikes laws. Mandatory sentence after three strikes should be automatic ten years. Same for 14-18 year olds
@Bingbangbong: Unfortunately you know, I know, we all know that that is not going to happen. They have rights, no responsibilities, only rights. Sad that it’s come to this.
@Bingbangbong:
Absolutely.
The toe rags will never change.
They are incapable of working for a wage,and probably have no education,or qualifications.
5 yrs in jail should be the norm for persistent crimes.
Their mugshot displayed so that people can protect their property.
The guards arrived half an hour later, no rush, lads
@N D K: no rush,that’s a decent response by today’s standards.
Past time to start deporting,we have gangs of criminal immigrants carrying knives !! Wakey Wakey Ireland ! Any sign of mehole Martin and his pet fly Harris ? Off interfering in Ukraine or gaze no doubt
@Electro Box: I lived in Dublin north inner city mid to late 80s as a student and in my first jobs. Great craic but it was always a bit dodgy. Shortest way back was by the Ilac Center, often populated by ciderheads and glue sniffers.
And into the mix throw the criminals’ friend, judge you NO… who, & we all know precisely what’s going to happen. Absolutely NOTHING meaningful. What an expensive waste.
Two burglaries in their current premises and they moved from Denmark Sweet because of raids there. Just awful
Whats so wrong with lengthy sentences and building a new super prison as planned 25 years ago? Are we in denial about crime and punishment by trying to help the poor offenders? Time for action.
Time to follow DIRTY HARRY approach to these detritus as custodial sentences appear to be not working
If the Gardai don’t get off their arses soon someone will be killed, either innocent citizens or some of the feral youths roaming around!
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