Sir, – Further to the letter from the National Women’s Council and others calling for a publicly funded childcare system (Letters, January 13th), an excellent report carried out by UCC in 2017, Report of Consultations with Children on After-school Care, includes the following information:
“The eight to 12-year-old cohort voted on where they would like to be cared for from a list of settings identified by them. Overwhelmingly the children voted for home as the place they would most like to be cared for after school (59 per cent). This was followed by friends’ houses (17 per cent), relatives (13 per cent), an after-school club (6 per cent), childminder (4 per cent) and creche (1 per cent)”.
Future planning and policy in childcare by the next government needs to listen to the voice of all stakeholders, including the key stakeholders, children.
We now have a chance in Ireland to be leaders rather than followers in developing a childcare system that is flexible, responsive and ultimately centres children’s wellbeing as its number one priority.
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A recognition that while group childcare settings can work for some children, they may not be appropriate or desirable for all children. A recognition that publicly funded high-quality childcare is one important strand of a national childcare policy.
A recognition that for some families caring for their children at home is a valid choice which should be supported through flexible work practices and targeted tax credits.
A childcare policy that values choice and diversity will ultimately benefit everyone in our society. – Yours, etc,
LENA DEEVY,
Ballinlough,
Cork.
Sir, – Healthcare and childcare and education are essential services for a modern society to not even prosper but to function. Working in one of these areas and availing of the other, the shortfalls and lack of governmental support are readily apparent.
The article “Childcare crisis driving employees out of workforce” (News, January 13th) highlights the reduction in the amount of women going back into the workforce after starting a family. Nursing, as an example, being a mostly female-staffed profession, then gets hit by the domino effect of this and healthcare recruitment suffers. This is not a family-centric problem, it’s a societal one, and the people who care for our children and our people should get all the support and funding they deserve. – Yours, etc,
LISA DALY,
Dublin 14.
Special-needs assistants
Sir, – I am writing in response to the news article “Tension between teachers and special-needs assistants flagged in official report” (January 10th). While it appears that much of the information in the article was drawn from the Department of Education’s principal and deputies focus groups on the role and duties of special-needs assistants (SNAs), the lack of input from SNA focus groups renders the article incomplete and, unfortunately, one-sided. The majority of SNAs are highly qualified professionals who regularly engage in continuing professional development to enhance their skills and expertise. The characterisation of SNAs as providing “a mothering role,” being “an extra set of eyes and ears,” or taking on a “second job in the household” is an oversimplification that undermines the complexity and significance of their contributions to inclusive education.
Far from creating tension, SNAs collaborate closely with teachers and other staff to support students with significant and often complex care needs. This support requires not only compassion but also specialised knowledge and skills in areas such as behaviour management, medical care, and communication strategies. The insinuation that tension is a universal experience in schools is misleading; countless teachers and SNAs work harmoniously as part of a professional team dedicated to the well-being and development of their students.
It is important to acknowledge that misunderstandings about the SNA role persist, and this is where challenges can arise. Some SNAs are asked to perform duties outside their official remit – tasks that are menial, demeaning, or unrelated to student care. Furthermore, there are cases where SNAs are not treated as equal colleagues within the school environment. This structural issue is a significant concern that deserves attention.
Additionally, both SNAs and teachers frequently face physical risks in their roles. Incidents of assault are not uncommon, yet there remains a reluctance to apply for assault leave due to fear of stigma, perceived blame on the student, or a lack of adequate support from school leadership, boards of management and the Department of Education. Addressing these challenges requires a balanced and comprehensive discussion, one that includes the voices of SNAs themselves.
I urge The Irish Times to explore these critical aspects of the SNA profession in a future article. A well-rounded perspective would contribute to a more accurate and respectful understanding of the essential work carried out by SNAs in supporting some of the most vulnerable members of our school communities. – Yours, etc,
MARIA BURKE,
Special-needs assistant,
Dublin 15.
The Occupied Territories Bill
Sir, – Daniel Mulhall suggests that the Government needs to think carefully about the “potential scale of retaliatory action” from the Trump administration should the Occupied Territories Bill be enacted. “It won’t do,” he remarks, “to conduct a purely emotional discussion about moral imperatives” (“Should Ireland pass the Occupied Territories Bill?”, Opinion & Analysis, January 14th).
An argument based on moral precepts is not, of course, ineluctably “emotional” – moral codes are important for all societies – but campaigners for sanctions against Israel have generally deployed a considerably more textured analysis than this.
As Mr Mulhall correctly observes, the Israeli state has shown itself to be “largely impervious to international pressure”, but that is because it has never faced serious economic, financial or political consequences for its actions. Words of condemnation will have no effect while the munitions continue to flow and trade with the EU remains unhindered. In fact, the impunity enjoyed by Israel for decades has clearly emboldened the current right-wing government to do as it pleases in Gaza and the West Bank. This simply has to end or – as EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in March 2024 – Gaza will become “a graveyard for many of the most important principles of humanitarian law.”
These breaches of international law, and particularly of international humanitarian law, are transparent. Indeed, the Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu is currently wanted for war crimes and liable to be arrested to face trial before the International Criminal Court. Meanwhile, illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank continue to expand in a deliberate effort to make a “two-state solution” unworkable. The Occupied Territories Bill seeks specifically to ban all trade with these illegal settlements because such economic interaction helps to sustain them.
Mr Mulhall claims that “the legislation would have no material impact” because Irish trade with the Israeli-occupied territories is “minuscule”, but I fear he misses the point. Symbolic gestures can be useful, but this is more than that. It is about beginning a process that, hopefully, will encourage other, larger, more economically impactful states to enact similar legislation.
Those who might propose that Ireland – out of “self-interest” – should bend to the will of Mr Netanyahu’s government or to that of the incoming Trump administration are treading a dangerous path. The implications of such a capitulation would be profound for Irish foreign policy. – Yours, etc,
FINTAN LANE,
Lucan,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – Ireland’s foreign policy is an academic exercise because when push comes to shove, Ireland lacks the economic clout and military credibility to affect any real change, no matter what those who claim Ireland to be a widely respected paragon of virtue tell us.
The prime example of this is the Occupied Territories Bill, which will not matter one iota when it comes to the Israeli economy but will likely bring the wrath of the US as well as the scorn of those who contribute to Europe’s security through Nato. Naturally those pushing the Bill will not suffer any economic consequences as they are rarely employed in the exporting and multinational sectors of the economy but stay in academia and State-funded NGOs. Those of us who will pay the price, as we rely on the international economy for our livelihoods, are generally too busy to engage in such pointless campaigning. – Yours, etc,
MATTHEW GLOVER.
Lucan,
Co Dublin.
Time for a tax-free housing bond
Sir, – I agree with Pat Farrell (“Housing crisis in Ireland cannot be solved by taxpayer funds alone – it also needs capital from private investors”, Business, Opinion, January 13th) that the focus of institutional investors on long-term, stable returns aligned very nicely with the objectives of the last Government and developers. However, it failed utterly to deliver affordable homes to buy and homes to rent at affordable rates. So I disagree with Mr Farrell that to move forward Ireland must fully embrace institutional investment as a critical partner in addressing its housing needs.
Irish institutional property members are free to deliver whatever new housing stock they wish but they cannot be relied upon to deliver what the public wants: affordable homes.
I understand that Irish banks are holding €150 billion in household deposits. The time is now right, therefore, for the next government to issue a tax-free housing bond.
The initial target could be €20 billion. Individual Irish taxpayers could invest for a tax-free return of, say, 1 per cent or 2 per cent above base-deposit rates.
The bond would deliver a supply of cash that could be advanced to Approved Housing Bodies, local authorities and the Land Development Agency for the construction, but not the acquisition, of social and affordable homes.
We do not need institutional funds to pay for the delivery of social and affordable housing. – Yours, etc,
ANNE BARRINGTON,
Chair,
Ó Cualann Cohousing Alliance,
Glenageary,
Co Dublin.
PhD students and lack of maternity benefits
Sir, – I am writing to highlight the lack of social supports for PhD students in Ireland, particularly regarding maternity benefits. My partner recently completed her PhD at Dublin City University, earning awards for her academic work and a scholarship from the Irish Research Council. Her research, published in a respected academic journal, has bolstered the global ranking of Irish universities.
However, as we prepare to welcome our first child, we have discovered that she is ineligible for maternity benefit. This is because PhD stipends in Ireland are so low that students do not qualify to pay PRSI, leaving them excluded from essential social supports.
Ireland’s PhD students are among the worst paid in the EU. This treatment devalues their contributions to society and risks driving talent abroad. The next government must urgently address this inequity by increasing PhD stipends to a livable wage and extending basic protections like maternity benefit to all researchers. – Yours, etc,
KILLIAN HORAN,
Carrickmines,
Dublin 18.
Online electricity bills
A chara, – As my electricity supplier contract is due to expire shortly, I went online to check out the offers available to me as a new customer of the different energy suppliers and was shocked to learn of the discriminatory practices of these companies. If a customer chooses to receive a bill in the post, as opposed to signing up for direct debit, the unit rate available to these customers is substantially higher than those offered to other customers. This practice may be legal, but morally there is no justification for the large discrepancies in the rates offered to these customers. The customers who choose to pay on receipt of a bill are usually the customers who can least afford to pay these higher costs, and may have higher demand for these services, such as the elderly and those with disabilities. The next government should engage with these companies to encourage them to stamp out these discriminatory practices. – Yours, etc,
EAMONN O’HARA,
Manorcunningham,
Co Donegal.
A game of two halves
Sir, – At a time when many of our New Year’s resolutions and commitments may be waning, the post-match analysis of the Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim offers Samuel Beckett-like encouragement: “We are improving in the way we suffer” (Sport, January 12th). – Yours, etc,
BRIAN O’BRIEN,
Kinsale,
Co Cork.