Irish companies are losing staff due to a lack of childcare facilities, a survey has found. The survey, commissioned by the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland, has found that 13% of Irish companies have lost staff in the past year because of a lack of childcare facilities. The MORI survey also found that the shortage of childcare places is seriously hampering companies' ability to recruit and retain staff at a time when 40% of companies have vacancies.
The MORI survey found that, in over half of the companies surveyed, there had been a query or complaint about childcare made by an employee in the previous twelve months. Requests for flexible hours or complaints about the cost of childcare services were the most common. One company in eight had experienced a situation where one or more members of staff had resigned their post to care for their children. Almost a third of companies believe that the lack of affordable or available childcare had a negative impact on their ability to recruit or retain staff.
The Chairwoman of the Chamber of Commerce of Ireland Human Resources Council pointed out that the Quarterly National Household survey showed that 144,000 people who want to work do not have jobs and many of these could join the labour force if affordable childcare was available. Jennifer Lee also said that the Chamber believes that increasing child benefit will not solve the problem, and it is not convinced that the money earmarked in the National Development Plan will tackle the crisis effectively.
