A number of recruitment agencies are reporting a fall-off in the number of au pairs coming to Ireland, while demand is on the increase. Why? Sarah Conroy reports

As the three long months of school holidays begin, so does the peak season for au pairs. But while the demand has never been higher, the number of young foreigners interested in coming to Ireland to perfect their English, and at the same time care for children is falling.

"In the last three years the numbers are so down they are scarce, it's almost a dying breed," says a spokesperson for Breslin International Recruitment in Dublin, which places au pairs. It's a trend which seems mirrored throughout Europe. At the same time, there's an increase in the number of families where both parents work, so there is a high demand for au pairs to look after children when the school gates close.

Mary Nolan, managing director of Dublin Childcare Recruitment Agency agrees there has been a decrease in au pairing in recent years. But she suggests that some families take the wrong attitude to these young people from abroad.

"Au pairs are 'parent help', they are not an employee and they are not a student but they have features of both." In lieu they get pocket money. This is something that is easily forgotten, she says, as people tend to think of au pairs as an employee whose job it is to do all the housework. They should be just assisting parents and "should not be treated as employees", says Nolan.

The rise in recent years in the cost of living in Ireland is a deterrent to au pairs. It seems that recently "word has gone out that we [Ireland\] are a very expensive nation", says Nolan. Spanish au pairs now refer to it as "rip-off Ireland" among their friends, she adds.

As the majority of au pairs coming to Ireland want to perfect their English, they usually attend language classes in the evening. However, there is a huge diversity in expenses for classes, Nolan points out. In the Republic, an au pair can expect to pay up to €140 for five hours of classes a week and an additional €45 to cover materials. The cost of these classes is one of the main factors they take into account when coming to the country, and the fees seem to be increasing all the time. When these expenses are coupled with the cost of transport to and from classes, many young people feel it is too expensive to come to Ireland and study English as an au pair.

Most au pairs who care for children do not come with any experience in this field and families are made fully aware of this. Inexperienced au pairs are paid "anything between €65 and €120 per week and if you wish to have an 'au pair plus' a parent may give up to €150 per week", says Nolan. An "au pair plus" would have experience of a year or more of minding children.

The type of "help" that an au pair is expected to do for this money is: getting the children up and dressed in the morning, walking them to school in term time, tidying the house, preparing and supervising meal times. This can prove too much for an au pair who has no childcare experience.

Au pairs are usually expected to help out for about 30 hours per week and do one night's babysitting for the family. "They can't be expected to give their help for more than 30 hours as they are coming here to improve their linguistic qualities," says Nolan.

There is no compulsory day off for au pairs. Some are given Sundays off, but this depends on the family.

In line with the Council of Europe's Agreement on Au Pair Placement (Strasbourg, 1969), au pairs cannot be under the age of 17, or over the age of 30. There are, however, new plans regarding childcare regulations which are to apply to Europe as a whole.

Au pairing has become less attractive in recent years as young people see they can make more money from other types of jobs while perfecting their English. Many restaurants, in particular, attract a high percentage of foreign employees.

Lena (25) from Poland, has worked as an au pair in Ireland on and off for the last three years. In January of this year she started a 12-month contract with a family; however, after five months, she handed in her notice. She was caring for four children aged under eight.

Before long, Lena found herself doing "more housework than minding the children. I do a lot; I basically do all the housework, hoovering, cleaning, laundry and get the dinners ready; we don't have conversations, only when she says do this, do this, and do this".

She wished her hours were 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day but instead "Monday and Tuesday I work from 7.30 a.m. to 7 p.m., with a break of three hours from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. - that's my time. The rest of the week whenever she needs me, I work three hours in the morning and in the afternoon".

Saturday and Sunday were her days off. For these long hours and chores she was originally to be given €80 per week, but after negotiation, this was increased by €20.

Lena has spent the past few months looking elsewhere for better money and conditions.

"I didn't feel comfortable any more and that motivated me even more to look for a job," she says.

Since securing a new job, Lena looks forward to her new post away from the au pair industry, working full-time as a receptionist in a hotel, where the money is much better.Like most of her classmates, Lena is starting afresh and says that the "Spanish only come for six months to improve their English and then they too are leaving".

Another au pair, Julie from Germany, recently told me she was returning home three months earlier than planned, having spent the previous seven months au pairing in Ireland. She gradually began to feel like a slave in her new post. She had just one day off a week and even then she'd be asked to give a hand if she stayed around. Anything she was asked to do she smiled and said: "Yes, of course no problem." But she felt always "obliged" to agree to do a task as she was "the au pair".

Working for a lovely family with three children aged under 10, in one of Dublin's affluent suburbs, it would appear an ideal set-up to some. But when asked if she would consider au pairing again, she shakes her head and says, "No way. I'll travel during future summers so as to improve my English, but I'll work as a waitress, not au pairing, as you are not appreciated enough for the work you do."

She now plans to return to university in the autumn to "work hard, get a good job and ensure I never have to work as an au pair again".

As the number of female au pairs coming to Ireland declines, it appears the prospects for male au pairing is not too promising either. Alex Bassa, au pair co-ordinator of Swan Training Institute Ltd says: "Families don't really want them, not because they are not good, but because they don't trust them."

Most parents do not feel comfortable leaving their children in the care of young men. Young women are preferred. Dublin Childcare Recruitment Agency confirms that families very rarely request a male au pair.

In the long-run, the beneficiaries from the decline in the au pair industry will be those running crèches and day-care centres, where a lot more than €140 a week is charged.

However, those in charge of au pair agencies remain optimistic. Mary Nolan concludes by saying that after the recent expansion of the EU, "we expect an influx of au pairs" into Ireland. Only time will tell.

* Au pairs' names have been changed