Almost 80% of childcare services in Carlow indicate need for more child protection training
Carlow has the one of the lowest average weekly fees by county
Almost 80% of childcare services in Carlow have indicated the need for further support/training for their staff in child protection, a new report has revealed.
Of all respondents to the survey, the majority (59%) nationally stated that staff in their service required further training and/or support in relation to child protection.
Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Katherine Zappone, this week launched the Early Years Sector Profile Report 2017/2018, developed and published by Pobal for the Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA).
Carlow has the one of the lowest average weekly fees by county for full day care (€149.53) part-time (€84.29) and sessional childcare (€70.02).
It also has one of the lowest vacancy rates at 3% with 3,144 children enrolled across the county with 88 vacant places.
The percentage of wheelchair accessible premises ranges from below 70% in all of the Dublin local authority areas to over 85% in counties Carlow, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon, Cavan, Monaghan, Offaly and Westmeath.
The findings are based on the largest ever survey of the early years sector, with responses from a total of 3,928 childcare services (88% of childcare facilities).