The Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone has promised an independent review of the cost of childcare. The root and branch review comes as Early Childhood Ireland say there’s a chronic staffing crisis in the sector. Their research says 86 per cent of créches and preschools are concerned about being able to recruit trained staff, while almost half have had to settle for workers with lower qualifications than they wanted. The average Irish family spends 34 per cent of household income on childcare, double the European average.
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