Staying at home for a parent, be it mother or father, is not an option that is encouraged or supported by Government policy, despite the fact that it is currently enshrined in the Constitution that a woman should not be obliged to work outside the home due to economic necessity. Society has obviously changed utterly since this clause was written but our political framework has not changed with us; it does little to support parents who wish to combine working outside the home with parenting and it is working against those who wish to work inside the home.

Minister Katherine Zappone’s speech at the opening of the Kennedy School in New Ross earlier this month gives further insight into her thoughts on early childcare. As the working parent of a little girl who has just started school, I have been following the minister’s attempts to fix what she describes as ‘one of the most expensive childcare systems in the world’ with interest.

Read the full article on The Irish Independent website here