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Childcare
cutback protest continues
A
PROTEST to highlight childcare cutbacks was held outside
the Department of Education last week.
Earlier
this month Southside People reported that the dreams
of hundreds of women on social welfare payments in South
Dublin had been shattered following the abrupt cut in
childcare grants.
The Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS)
childcare funding grant helps women on social welfare
with the cost of childcare so that they can return to
education.
It is financed through the Department of Education and
Science and administered by vocational education committees.
Funds provided to VECs for childcare support for Youthreach
and senior Traveller training centre programmes were
also cut.
Last week a protest organised by the Teachers Union
of Ireland was held to highlight the problem.
Dublin South West TD Seán Crowe (SF) attended
the demonstration and offered his support to the protestors.
In response to a letter from Deputy Crowe, Minister
for Education and Science Noel Dempsey said that: “It
happened fortuitously that, up to 2002, the amount of
money made available annually to each VEC was usually
enough to meet the total costs.
“I
appreciate that the shortage of funds will give rise
to difficulties for a number of VECs. At present, I
am examining the possibility of providing some special
assistance to VECs that are particularly badly affected.”
Deputy Crowe described the minister’s response
as completely inadequate.
“He
admits to a 37 per cent cut in funding for VTOS childcare
supports, claiming that the Government had just been
lucky in being able to fund it since 1998,” Deputy
Crowe said. “For four years the department was
‘fortuitously’ able to meet the total costs
of childcare and now, he claims, his money and his luck
has run out.”
The Tallaght based TD said that the promise to examine
VECs that are particularly badly affected was not nearly
enough for the men and women who protested outside the
Department.
“The
Minister must restore childcare support for VTOS participants,
and not just in some of the hardest hit VECs but right
across the board,” he said. “It would be extremely
unfair if people in one VEC were able to get support
and people in another were denied it.”
Protesters
pictured outside Department of Education last week
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