Sir, - What would you say if I told you that as we prepare to enter the third millennium the Irish State has provided
maternity benefit
parental leave
regulated creches and nurseries
equal opportunities legislation?
It's pretty impressive, isn't it? On the face of it, we've come a long way towards honouring our constitutional commitments to the family and our legislative commitments to equality of opportunity for men and women. Or have we?
Maximum maternity payment is £160 per week, usually not subsidised by the employer.
There is unpaid parental leave of three months for the wealthy who can afford it.
There is a one-year waiting list for most creches in the greater Dublin area and still the Eastern Health Board is closing them down.
There is still no tax relief on childcare expenses despite a record Budget surplus this year.
It is no surprise, then, that this somewhat bleaker picture of the situation means that only 40 per cent of mothers are in paid employment. For no existing equal opportunities legislation could possibly combat this State-supported discrimination against mothers returning to the workforce.
The reality is that while welcome attention is being paid to childcare facilities in disadvantaged areas and there is a fine supply of well qualified professional nannies to cater for the well-off, middle-income earners are once again losing out. I calculated recently that were I to return to work full-time and pay corresponding childcare expenses, I would be £10 better off than working part-time. As a taxpayer, a mother and a worker I protest that:
I can decide if a privately run creche is adequate to cater for my child's needs.
I resent the hypocrisy of closing down creches because of carer: child ratios and simultaneously allowing a ration of 1:30 in junior infants' classes.
It is not enough for the State to leave it entirely at the discretion of employers' goodwill whether or not they supplement maternity benefit or provide creches.
Why do so many issues have to reach crisis proportions in this State before intervention takes place? We've heard a lot recently about the Bacon report. It is time now for a full Pampers report which exposes how much padding and how little substance there is to this nanny State's policy package on "equal opportunities", childcare facilities and maternity provision. - Yours, etc.,
Cliona Hannon, Pembroke Road, Dublin 4.
