Community group fears closure

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A NORTHSIDE community group that provides vital adult education and training services fears it may be forced to close if a major Government childcare scheme comes into force next year. Trinity Adult Resource Group for Education and Training (TARGET), which operates out of St Kevins National School, Donaghmede, said the proposed new Childcare Subvention Scheme could devastate their services. The new scheme will mean that community childcare services will receive financial support to enable them to provide reduced childcare fees to parents who are in receipt of social welfare payments and Family Income Supplement (FIS). However, such subventions will not be available in respect of parents who are not in receipt of those payments, meaning low-income working families will be forced to shell out for costly childcare facilities. Local groups and public representatives said this could force many parents out of work and onto the social welfare system and make many community education and employment groups redundant. Speaking to Northside People, Heidi Bedell, Community Employment (CE) supervisor at TARGET, said the group would be under enormous pressure to continue providing all its services. Ms Bedell said Government funding currently allows TARGET to operate a free drop in creche centre for parents who wish to avail of one of its courses or to go back to work. She said that if this funding is taken away from the group and provided only to parents on social welfare to cover their childcare costs, TARGET would lose a huge section of people taking part in their courses. The new system will mean we will no longer be able to offer our free drop-in creche, Ms Bedell stated. This has the potential to completely devastate TARGET and our group could be lost to the community altogether. Ms Bedell has urged Minister for Children, Brendan Smith, to reconsider the plan. The current system of funding has been really good for us, she added. It allows us to employ two permanent childcare workers for the creche, and the majority of the other services we provide are reliant on this. Speaking at a recent private Dail debate on the issue, Dublin North East TD Terence Flanagan (FG) pleaded with Minister Smith to rethink the Childcare Subvention Scheme.