Hundreds of community creches in disadvantaged areas nationwide “have reached breaking point”, according to a childcare expert.

The community creches already use qualified staff but say their tight budgets can’t stretch to hiring additional qualified childcare workers at €24,000 each.

Childcare consultant Susan Brocklesby said: “As the 2015 Breaking Point report on community creches in Cork and South County Dublin highlighted, these early years community settings are unsustainable at current levels of funding and are operating at financial risk.

“They have remained open by keeping expenditure low, relying on low-paid staff, volunteerism, CE, and under-resourced key positions. Payroll costs are too high relative to funding, with some over 100% of their overall income.”

The report showed 28% of the Cork and Dublin creches were spending 80%-120% of their income on staffing — this was before regulations were updated so that only trained staff can be included in the all-important child/childcare worker ratios.

Cork City Childcare Committee co-ordinator Kathryn O’Riordan said: “It is crazy that there isn’t targeted early intervention funding scheme for this group of vulnerable young children.

“The single affordable childcare scheme is a great development in general but it isn’t designed for these children as they have far greater needs.”

Over half of the children in the Breaking Point creches came from a house that did not have an adult in employment, a figure twice the national average.

Another 34% are lone parents, again twice the national average.

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