For working-mother-of-two Imelda Power, one of eight employees in the Department of Social Welfare local office in Waterford city, this will be her third year to benefit from the term-time scheme. She describes it as a lovely option, which gives her and her children Emma (eight) and Bill (six) the best of both worlds: "The reason I took it was because I thought it was a better option than jobsharing."

Before Imelda got involved in term-time she had been working week on/week off and decided she would be better off financially working on term-time, where the year's earnings are averaged out over 12 months even though she has 10 weeks off in the summer.

"One of the reasons I took it was because the kids were the age that, during the summer, it was kind of - not cruel, but too much for the childminder to be minding them for the whole duration of the summer. It also gave me an opportunity to recharge my batteries. "The freedom is just brilliant. You can just get up and go and you've no whingeing or moaning. It is so much easier."

Last summer the children spent nearly the whole time on the beach with their mother. "We wouldn't be gone for the whole day, but we'd head off with a picnic or something," she says.

The 10-week block in the summer also gives Imelda, who's originally from Dublin, a chance to travel between Waterford and Dublin as much as she wants.

Their dad, Marcus, also manages to get his holidays when Imelda is on term-time. Another advantage is that Imelda is still entitled to her 20 days' annual leave because she works more than certain number of hours. "What I do with that, then, is I can take it at Christmas time, or I can take it at Easter - and I can take it when they are on midterm, which is grand. "It facilitates everybody and nobody is under pressure. Even the babysitter doesn't have to have them all day."

Normally, while Imelda and Marcus are at work, Emma and Bill are looked after by their granny, Bridie Power, in her home, and Imelda prefers them to be cared for in a family situation as opposed to a creche. She firmly believes, she says, that "if they go to someone belonging to them they fare better". Being minded out of their home can be tough on children during school holidays.

"Even in our own area you would see kids carted off in the morning and they are gone all day and our own are looking for them. It was the same when we were in the same position as them - the kids were always giving out that they couldn't go home and play with their friends."

"How come we have to go all the time and can't stay at home?" is a question Bill and Emma no longer ask during their school holidays.

Imelda would like to continue as a term-time worker as long as Bill and Emma are in school. She says that because the civil service is becoming more flexible and a family friendly workplace, there may be other options open to her in the future.

Flexi-time also means that, if she takes the minimum half-hour for lunch, she can leave work at 4.30 p.m., if she wants, or stay in work longer and build up hours to get a flexiday off work. "The flexibility is great," she says.