В Митхе из-за нехватки персонала более 1370 детей до трех лет остаются в списках ожидания мест в детских садах

Up to 1,370 children under three years of age in Meath remain on waiting lists for pre-school places due to ongoing staffing challenges, according to Early Childhood Ireland. As parents scramble to find preschool places for their children this year, there have been warnings that early years and crèche places in Meath are in crisis. The waiting list figures come from Pobal’s Annual Sector Profile Survey, which shows that among those surveyed in Meath, more than 9,000 children under three were enrolled for an Early Years place in 2024/25 and up to 1,370 remained on waiting lists. Of those waiting for a place, 107 were under the age of one; 656 were one to years old and 612 were two to three years old. Pobal’s data also shows Early Years and School Age Care settings in Meath are losing a quarter of their staff each year. Deputy Darren O'Rourke said the preschool and creche sector in Meath was in crisis in terms of access and affordability. "Access to childcare places is a major issue for families. Not having a place causes major upheaval and forces parents to change plans. There is a similar situation in before and after school care places. "It is terrible that in 2026 in one of the wealthiest European Countries that we have such a broken early years system. We are a complete outlier in this regard." Deputy O'Rourke was critical of how little progress had been made by the government on commitments they had made during the last election.. "Meath is in the eye of the storm when it comes to childcare, with a growing population, so many young families and the high cost of living. "The system is in crisis and urgently needs immediate attention," he said. Cllr Eddie Fennessy said access to childcare is a major problem for working families. "At last check, there are 40,000 children on waiting lists for childcare places in this state. And almost 1,000 childcare facilities closed their doors over the past few years because of rising costs and a lack of funding from the government. “It doesn’t surprise me that there 1,370 children locked out of childcare in county Meath. Earlier this year the government launched the early learning and childcare investment programme in an effort to deal with rising waiting lists and demand for childcare. Under that plan, the government can purchase buildings and use them to deliver childcare facilities with a capacity of 100 places or more. Not in county Meath it seems, because to my knowledge, no facility has been purchased in the county. Even though there are empty childcare buildings gathering moss on newly built housing estates across the county. “Communities in Meath are crying out for access to childcare services. Vacant buildings that were built for childcare use, must be the focus of the government’s childcare programme. It would save time and money, and it wouldn’t take much to get them up and running. This is a view we have shared with the minister in the hope that vacant childcare buildings in Meath can be put to the use they were designed and built for.” Cllr Caroline O'Reilly said the figure is very worrying but it doesn't surprise her. "I hear from parents all the time who are struggling to find a crèche place and for some families it can actually determine whether they can go back to work. "I’ve raised this repeatedly in submissions on new housing developments. If we’re building hundreds of new homes, we have to be planning for the childcare places those families will need as well. "I’ve also been working on the crèche situation in The Willows in Dunshaughlin, where there has been a real issue around getting the facility up and running. "Meath is growing very quickly and we need the services to grow with it. Childcare has to be part of that planning from the start,” she said. Meanwhile, Early Childhood Ireland has published three proposals aimed at ensuring Budget 2027 contains measures to attract and retain staff in the sector. They are calling on Government to name a date to introduce pay parity for Early Years and School Age Care graduates, to double the graduate premium in core funding and invest in three in-service days per year for every Early Years and School Age Care setting.