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A plan to provide temporary child care to essential health care workers was canceled when only six providers volunteered to participate in it.
The scheme was created in response to requests from those who were asked to work long hours on the front line without anyone at home taking care of their children.
The provision of childcare for essential health workers has been a major problem for staff and unions in the past few weeks since the closing of schools and daycares.
A HSE survey last month indicated that up to 8,000 employees had or predicted that they would soon have difficulty caring for children.
The scheme was designed in response to a request from the Health Department and the HSE to establish an emergency child care service for essential health workers.
Child care professionals were expected to work community-based in the homes of health workers, and child care providers and their staff would be paid for the service.
The funds allowed for the payment of an average salary of € 15 per hour for childcare professionals, in addition to associated employer costs, as well as an administrative overhead to provide supervision and support.
The service was expected to cost around 4.7 million euros per week and could cover 5,000 families. In a statement the The Department of Children and Youth Affairs said that fear of infection, fears of insurance coverage, and difficulties in meeting employer responsibilities for breaks and rest periods may be responsible for the drop. adoption of the plan.
The Department also acknowledged that many of the 27,000 women, mostly women involved in professional childcare, had trouble caring for their own children due to the closure of schools and daycare centers.
“The Minister noted that the challenge of introducing child care provision at this time is difficult due to significant public health restrictions in place,” he said in a statement.
“While the home-based approach met public health requirements, the provision of this type of model posed other difficulties, and the sector was generally concerned about possible health impacts amid strict rules of social distancing. continuous.
“The minister recognized the efforts both within her own department and externally to launch the scheme. I sincerely hoped that it would be possible to carry out such a plan successfully and somewhat ease the burden on our front-line health workers. Unfortunately, this has not been the case. “
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