Childcare: Northern Ireland parents at 'crisis point' over UK-NI gap

Childcare in Northern Ireland is at crisis point as the gap between what parents in Northern Ireland get compared to those in the rest of the UK widens, a new parents' group has said.

Provisions for three and four-year-olds in Northern Ireland are less than half what they are in the rest of the UK.

Meanwhile, parents here are entitled to 12.5 hours of funded term-time pre-school education per week.

That compares to 30 hours in the rest of the UK.

New lobby group Melted Parents NI is campaigning for childcare reform - the group formed six weeks ago and now has more than 5,000 members.

Paula O'Neill, one of the group's founders, told the Evening Extra programme the name was inspired by parents' "heads being melted" by Northern Ireland's childcare situation.

Before the devolved government was suspended last year, it had been working on a childcare strategy - but that has been shelved due to a lack of a power-sharing executive at Stormont.

"We cannot continue with how things are in Northern Ireland," she said.

"We have had parents say they want their child to go to pre-school but it would crucify them financially," she added.

It was announced in the spring budget that the 30 hours free childcare provision for working parents in England will be expanded to cover one and two year olds.

Ms O'Neill said this announcement highlighted that the gap between the rest of the UK and Northern Ireland is widening.

"We pay the same taxes here as people in England do, there is a crisis here, we can't go on any longer and if we as parents don't get together to say enough is enough - that we need our government to take action - who is?

She descried the situation as "untenable".

Once extra spending is decided for England - in this case for childcare - the Barnett formula is used to allocate money to the devolved nations.

However the Northern Ireland Office has said that any in-year Barnett consequentials for Northern Ireland - that is funding that comes automatically as a result of higher spending decisions in England - will be used to repay overspend by Stormont.

"We know we get money for childcare through the Barnett consequential to get equivalent services but we don't have the equivalent services to the UK," said Ms O'Neill.

She added: "It's seen as a mummy issue sometimes - but it's not - we think it's an all-economy issue, it's impacting our health services and social mobility.

"As an accountant I am always hearing that businesses can't get staff.

"There is a skills shortage in Northern Ireland - so, on one hand, we have businesses who can't get staff and on the other hand we have parents that can't afford to work.

"Childcare is economical infrastructure - we would like to see the government provide immediate relief to parents in Northern Ireland," she added.

Shauna Collinson is the mother of a 13-month-old and has a full time job while her husband is self-employed.

They had difficulty finding available, accessible childcare so they could continue their employment.

"We had to go on a waiting list for a crèche and I had to extend my maternity, which meant using savings, which puts you on the back foot for then paying for your childcare," she told Evening Extra.

Ms Collinson said the crèche bill came to £1,300 a month and, considering the average income in Northern Ireland is about £1,900, it was a significant amount.

In the end, because their daughter then did not settle in crèche they found a childminder.

"She is brilliant and my daughter is in the best place for her but she can't do all the hours that we need," she added.

Shauna and her husband use family and leave to bridge the gap.