Due to the low average wage of the childcare sector, the move in effect means the State is agreeing to pay all wages of creche workers for the next three months. Furthermore, creches will be expected to assure parents that their child’s places will be secure at the end of the crisis, providing that the creche is still trading. Creches which have let childcare workers go will also be expected to make efforts to hire back the workers who were made unemployed. The future of the childcare sector had been imperilled especially by the Covid-19 outbreak. Many creches faced an enormous shortfall every month, with an estimated €12 million per month usually generated by fee income from parents across the sector likely to disappear.

Source: The Irish Times March 24, 2020 19:19 UTC