Madam, - The issue of the availability of childcare places was again very high on the political agenda during the two by-elections in Meath and North Kildare. This is to be welcomed. It is to be hoped that an increase in the number of regulated childcare places will be an integral part of a national plan for the care of our youngest citizens.
The OECD's Thematic Review of Early Childhood Education and Care Policy in Ireland (2004) contains a number of imaginative recommendations which would offer support to our children and their families and bring Ireland into line with many other European countries.
One recommendation in particular needs forward planning: extending funded parental leave to one year after the birth of a child. The OECD suggest such leave needs to be time-limited and clearly linked to work as prolonged low-paid parental leave tend to take certain women out of the labour force more or less permanently.
In France mothers are given 36 weeks' maternity leave with 100 per cent of prior earnings. Norway and Sweden have a 36-week maternity leave with 80 per cent of prior earnings. This is independent of other child allowances.
Many countries, such as Canada, now believe that the individualised care of infants and the planned return of women to the workforce can be achieved through extended parental leave to one year after the birth of a child.
Forward planning is necessary for such a policy to be implemented in an organised manner. The EU Barcelona Agreement (2002) recommends the removal of disincentives to female participation in the labour force and the provision by 2010 of childcare for at least 90 per cent of children between the age of two and mandatory schools age in member-states. Arguably, this could be cost-effective: sustaining and supporting women to return to the workforce has a return in tax contributions.
More importantly, the Government can offer support for babies in their first year of life and thereby improve the quality of life for both parents and babies.
It is possible that, as part of a national strategy to provide quality childcare by 2010, funded maternity leave of at least 36 weeks with extended funded parental leave for a child's first year of life could be a reality by 2007 or 2008. The arguments and the facts are all in the OECD report. What is needed now is an imaginative leap by our politicians to make it a reality. - Yours, etc.,
PHILOMENA DONNELLY,
Lecturer in Early Childhood Education,
St Patrick's College (Dublin City University),
Drumcondra,
Dublin 9.