More than 5,000 children on waiting list for childcare place in Cork
The National Women’s Council has described fees as “unsustainable” for countless families, even with state subsidies,
Over 5,000 children are currently on a waiting list for childcare places in Cork, according to the latest figures.
Pobal, which works on behalf of the Irish government to support communities and local agencies, including in the early years and childcare sector, said that a total of 5,209 children are now awaiting a place.
The National Women’s Council highlighted that in last year’s programme for government, the Government promised to cap childcare fees at €200 per month and to begin providing State-run services in communities facing the greatest childcare gaps.
“More than a year on, families, children and educators are still waiting and meaningful progress is yet to be made,” a spokesperson said.
Latest Pobal data shows that childcare costs in the Cork City Council area average €212.04 a week for one child in full-time care, while in the Cork County Council area, the average weekly cost is €207.20 for one child in full-time care.
The National Women’s Council has described these fees as “unsustainable” for countless families, even with state subsidies, saying that the lack of available places is acting as a major barrier for women to return to work and to participate fully in all aspects of society.
recently published Pobal data showing that up to 3,947 children under the age of three are currently on crèche waiting lists across Cork.
There are 652 children under the age of one on waiting lists and only 15 places available; 1,731 children aged one to two on waiting lists and 28 places available; and 1,564 children aged two to three on waiting lists and 309 places available to them.
The overall childcare waiting list refers to children of all ages.
Orla O’Connor, director of the NWC, said:
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“Budget 2026 is a unique opportunity to invest in building a public system of early childhood education and care that is affordable for parents, values educators, and supports women and families. We want to see a system where every child who needs a place has access to one, just as children do in the primary school system.”
However, a new survey by the country’s largest organisation representing independent early years operators, the Federation of Early Childhood Providers (FECP), has shown that of the 543 early years businesses it engaged with nationally, 234 providers (43%) have no waiting list whatsoever, while 229 providers (42%) are currently not yet at capacity.
The FECP said that the real crisis is regional mis-match, bad planning and “starvation budgets” rather than universal overcrowding.
Chairperson of the FECP, Elaine Dunne, said: “Pobal must highlight the real problem. The greatest pressure is in the under-18 months category, where the ratio is one carer to three children."
She said the difficulty is not with capacity under the Early Childhood Care and Education Programme (ECCE) scheme or in the older age groups – it lies within the younger age cohort.
Cork South West TD and Independent Ireland leader Michael Collins said: “While there is no doubt that tens of thousands of parents are genuinely struggling to access early childhood services, this new data definitively reveals the true nature of the crisis is one of geographical disparity, allied of course to the severe underfunding and staff shortages that are rampant across the sector irrespective of the operator’s location.
“We can no longer continue to engage in promoting the essentially misleading fact that there is no capacity within the sector. There is ample capacity, but parents are often unable to access these services and providers are under increasing pressure to close them.
"It is a vicious circle, but that circle can be closed if we are imaginative and honest enough in our approach.”
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