Local Childcare Grants Announced as Labour Launches New Campaign

Posted by Alan Kelly on July 30, 2015 at 09:34 PM

I welcome the news that 88 childcare facilities in Tipperary have been awarded grants today as part of a €7m scheme for early years services.

Facilities in the local area which benefit from the fund include: Ladybird's Playschool & Childminding Service in Nenagh, Laethanta Sona Montessori Pre-School in Roscrea, The Old School House, Pouldine and Tumbletots Playschool in Clerihan, Clonmel.

The scheme covers large scale capital funding, essential medium-scale maintenance, and the upgrading of ICT equipment. These grants will help facilities keep up with the demands of a busy modern childcare service. The news comes as Labour launched their new ‘Let’s Talk About Childcare’ campaign this week.

The nationwide grassroots campaign is targeting parents who use childcare resources and wants to know their views on how it can be made more affordable. Parents are being encouraged to fill out a short online survey on labour.ie/childcare. The results of the survey will feed into the party’s election manifesto process.

A working group has also been set up within the Labour Parliamentary Party to help examine the issues surrounding childcare, while other elements of the campaign include public meetings, online videos and local literature.

We want to hear from parents about their childcare arrangements, what works and what doesn’t and more importantly how things could be made easier for parents across Ireland. There is no one-size fits all solution to the issue of childcare. It is clear however that we need to ensure that our children are provided with the best quality childcare and our campaign is a sincere attempt to achieve in a way that enables parents to have a real input. “In view of this, I’d strongly urge parents in Tipperary to participate in our simple questionnaire.

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