The call for 900 extra childminding places is just one of the measures the charity will propose to the Northern Ireland Executive today (Wednesday) in a bid to secure a proportion of the £12m the Executive has committed towards childcare over the next four years.
According to the Northern Ireland Childminding Association (NICMA), registered childminding places account for 61 per cent of full-time daycare places in Northern Ireland. However, they say that the falling number of registered childminders has left many parents struggling to find childcare.
A survey previously carried out by Ipos Mori on behalf of NICMA found that 30 per cent of parents who had recently looked for childcare had found their search difficult.
Bridget Nodder, NICMA’s director, said, ‘There are many affordable problems which that funding can be used to tackle, including the need for more affordable and high quality places.
‘We wanted to make a positive contribution to the Executive’s challenging task in determining how best to spend that funding, and that’s why we’ve produced these proposals.’
Another issue of concern for NICMA, is the length of time it can take to register as a childminder. Research carried out by the charity last year revealed that it takes, on average, seven months for a would-be childminder to go through the registration process, more than double the official maximum period of three months.
Ms Nodder said, ‘We are concerned that undue delays in registration times can put off potential childminders and can also lead to childminders operating illegally, without going through the registration process, thus putting at potential risk the children they’re looking after.
‘We believe there is potential for streamlining and improving the registration process to make it more efficient.’