Warning over long-term cure for childcare crisis
The childcare crisis will not be solved in a single budget, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern warned tonight.
With pressure being piled on the coalition Government to ease the financial burden on working parents, the Taoiseach cautioned that it would take several years to make serious improvements.
“We are spending €2.5bn on childcare, child benefit in this country and in the capital grants, so it’s an enormous amount of money,” he said.
“There’s lots of cases being made that we should try to do more, but in fairness all the people involved in this have made it very clear that they understand how much we have done and I think acknowledge that, want to see more done over a period, but nobody who is in the business believes that this can all be done in one year.”
Dampening expectations that Finance Minister Brian Cowen would offer a cure-all to thousands of couples juggling work and family life, Mr Ahern said it could not be done in one year.
The Taoiseach said improving childcare, making it accessible and affordable was a long-term issue.
And he backed Mr Cowen’s warning that there was no magic wand that would deal with the need for more childcare support in a single year.
The Cabinet met over the weekend to discuss the upcoming Budget, due to be unveiled on December 7.
