Is free, publicly-funded childcare possible in Ireland?
“We probably get two, three phone calls a week from people desperately looking for childcare,” says Valerie O’Reilly of Rainbow Daycare in Sandyford.
O’Reilly has been running Rainbow for more than 20 years and says she is fortunate to own her premises, as it substantially eases the financial pressure involved.
O’Reilly is supportive of the various Government funding schemes brought about in recent years, designed to support parents and providers. Like more than 90 per cent of operators, she has signed up again to Core Funding, the payment from the State to providers. But she says she has many questions about the proposals that are being floated about a “nationalised system of childcare”.
News in Ireland
- Chasing Daniel Kinahan for $9.7m: ‘It’s time-consuming’: The US attorney Eric Montalvo who is pursuing Daniel Kinahan’s cash after securing a $9.7 million order against him in California courts is working to identify which assets can effectively be seized in a timely manner.
- Boy (12) injured in firework attack in Belfast: A 12-year old boy is in hospital in Northern Ireland with eye damage after he was hit by a firework on Saturday evening.
- Surge in money-laundering arrests as gardaí target gangs: Money-laundering arrests in the Republic have surged since the start of the year. They are on course to surpass the record level recorded during the pandemic years, when scam-based crimes soared.
- Brian Stanley quits Sinn Féin after ‘gross misconduct’ allegation: A Sinn Féin internal inquiry into allegations against TD Brian Stanley had reached a preliminary conclusion of gross misconduct against him before he resigned from the party on Saturday night.
- Weather forecast: Any isolated patches of mist or fog this morning will clear to leave a mainly dry day with some good bright spells. Highest temperatures of 11 to 15 or 16 degrees in mostly light to moderate southeasterly breezes. Tonight will be dry for a time with some mist and fog. Outbreaks of rain and drizzle will then move into parts of Munster and south Leinster. Lowest temperatures of 3 to 7 degrees.
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The Big Read
- ‘As a parent, your friends are often other parents ... they’re not people you’d choose’: I spend far too much time on my phone. Far too much. And I’m called out on it regularly. But it’s not an easy habit to break. For one, I genuinely need it close by for work.
Opinion
Business
- How AI helped me with a tricky work conversation: A tricky work conversation loomed, so I did what any normal person would do: I put it off. I picked up the phone. I put it down.
Sports
- Unless execution improves, Ireland will not be qualifying for anything for a while: There is at least one really clear area where Ireland can immediately improve. Stop giving away goals with elementary mistakes in build-up play, writes Ken Early.
World
- Unifil forces, including Irish troops, to reject Israel’s calls to move: The UN will reject calls by Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu for Unifil forces, including Irish troops, to withdraw from positions in southern Lebanon, according to Irish Government sources.
- Maureen Dowd: Anxious Democrats want Harris to cut loose and start questioning Trump: Is Kamala Harris in a dead-even race against a ridiculous person because of her sex or is that just an excuse?
Life & Style
- DNA testing: ‘Lo and behold, there’s a half-sibling or a full sibling one or two clicks away’: Maybe you receive a DNA test kit as a gift, and it would feel rude to waste it. Or perhaps you are curious about your family origins and think it would be fun to learn more.
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