Firms are losing staff because the cost of childcare is making it impossible for parents to stay in work, a leading business group has claimed.

Chambers Ireland said the country would not be able to remain competitive unless more money was put aside by the Government to fund childcare. Childcare costs are 40pc of the average wage here, the highest in the developed word, the OECD said this week.

Chambers Ireland’s policy and research executive Sarah Thatt-Foley said: “Public investment in childcare is not just good for families and children, but also good for business.”

Firms needed to have in place a childcare system that allowed both parents to take up employment, she said.

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