Funds of €250,000 granted to help new childcare facility
By Lynda O'Donoghue Donnelly
FUNDING of €250,000 has been made available for a new childcare facility in Deansrath – with an additional €150,000 to be spent on upgrading existing childcare in West Dublin.
The grants were announced earlier this week as part of a €7 million funding scheme for early years services across the county.
West Dublin is set to receive a total of €400,000 for more than 50 childcare facilities in Clondalkin, Ballyfermot and Lucan.
The new facility in Deansrath will be a €250,000 modular building which will house the existing St Ronan’s playschool and will be situated on the grounds of St Ronan’s National School.
Other childcare facilities set to receive grants include St Matthew’s Community Playgroup in Ballyfermot, Dublin West Limetree Childcare on the Bawnogue Road and St Finian’s Childcare Services in Lucan.
Minister for Justice and Equality, Frances Fitz-gerald TD, is pleased that communities will benefit from this funding.
She said: “As former Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, and Ireland’s first senior Minister in this position, I welcome this funding towards childcare services in our area. This capital programme demonstrates the Government’s commitment to the ongoing development of the childcare sector.”
The grants, which will cover essential medium-scale maintenance and the upgrading of ICT equipment, were also welcomed by local Labour TD Robert Dowds.
Deputy Dowds said: “These grants will help facilities keep up with the demands of a busy modern childcare service.”
The Clondalkin TD is also asking parents to contact the party in relation to their needs as part of the “Let’s Talk About Childcare” campaign.
He said: “There is no one-size-fits-all solution to the issue of childcare. It is clear however that we need to ensure that our children are provided with the best quality childcare and our campaign is a sincere attempt to achieve this in a way that enables parents to have a real input.
“In view of this, I’d strongly urge parents in Clondalkin and Lucan to participate in our simple questionnaire, which is at labour.ie/childcare.”
