New hope of vital funds for Cork city childcare facility

There is good news for parents and staff of the Before 5 childcare facility in Churchfield, as progress has been made in talks with state body Pobal about funding the facility.

Northside Community Enterprises, which will manage the childcare facility going forward, has shared that they had a positive meeting with Pobal about securing the funding required to bring the service up to standard.

The company identified the need for an investment of €360,000 to make a new facility operational, with fire safety and building controls needing to be brought up to standard.

Plans

NCE general manager Wayne O’Donnell told Cork TDs and councillors the company met Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman on Monday, May 13, outlining their plans to reopen the facility.

Mr O’Donnell said: “Although the minister could not guarantee we will get funding he said he was aware of the proposal, that very positive work was being done at department level and assured us that all options are being explored.”

Last Friday, the NCE had an online meeting with Pobal, which gave them some actions to complete regarding the plans they have put together before they take it back to the Department of Children.

Pobal provided a three-year business plan template for NCE to complete, with a lot of the information required things they already have outlined in previous correspondence.

Template

However, there are a few points in the template that NCE need to get clarity from Pobal on before they complete it, said Mr O’Donnell, who added: “We will continue to give Pobal all the information require.”

“NCE feel the meeting with Pobal was positive and they hope that funding is allocated to us, no timeline was spoken about, but we at NCE will continue to engage with Pobal and the department,” Mr O’Donnell said.

People Before Profit–Solidarity TD for Cork North-Central Mick Barry told The Echo: “I think that there is a real onus now on Northside Community Enterprises to draft the three-year plan requested quickly and for the department to process the updated funding request quickly.

“There are parents on the Northside who have been very badly done by here in terms of childcare and early learning services for their children.

“I will be doing everything I can to keep the pressure on on this issue in the weeks ahead.”

Progress made 

Fianna Fáil councillor for Cork city North West Tony Fitzgerald said, “there’s been lots of progress made and engagement in recent months in relation to securing the funding.

“I was pleased that Minister O’Gorman came to visit NCE last week and saw the excellent work undertaken there, and how professional NCE is in terms of delivering childcare services on the northside of the city.

“There are challenges, but there is lots of positive news.”