A childminder has said she is “devastated” to leave her role but has decided to do so due to the introduction of new regulations for the sector over recent years.
Leigh Ann Gilmore (54), from Lucan, west Dublin said she will finish up as a childminder at the end of June and plans to take on a part-time office administration job.
Childminding Ireland, which provides guidance and support to childminders, has warned of a “mass exodus” from the sector unless significant changes are made to the “new child-minding system and the wider direction of policy”.
The organisation said childminders are worried about the loss of flexibility, excessive paperwork, complex administrative requirements and restrictions around emergency cover under the new regulations, which they feel “do not properly reflect the realities of working alone from a family home”.
Under the regulations introduced by the Department of Children in 2024, childminders must register with Tusla by September 2027. Childminders must also attend and complete a preregistration training course and an assessment by a Tusla inspector will take place at their home.
Gilmore, who has been working as a childminder from her home for 18 years, said exiting the job early was “never the plan” and she would have stayed had it not been for the new rules.
“The decision to do what I’m doing came at great personal upset,” she said.
“It was not an easy decision to make … I basically planned to childmind until I could no longer sit on the floor and build Lego or go to the park and run around. Literally it would have been my body telling me it was time to retire and nothing else. That was always the plan because I love it.”
Gilmore said she examined the regulations and had a series of concerns, primarily that once she was registered with Tusla her home address would be published by the agency.
“What I have done for 18 years – being Garda vetted, first-aid trained, insured, notified to Revenue – all of that was no longer good enough,” she said.
“I didn’t mind adding on a few extra things to satisfy safeguarding or whatever they felt needed to be extra, but it wasn’t just a few extra things; it was a complete overhaul.”
Gilmore added she was not against regulation “at all” but that the rules had to be “proportionate”.
Another childminder, who has been working in the north Kerry area since 2013, also said she was not willing to register.
“The new regulations are not making it very feasible for childminders or very appealing,” Tina, who did not wish to give her surname, said. “There’s nothing in it really for us at the moment.
“At the end of the day, the last thing I want to do is close up. I do love working in childcare but, at the moment, they’re just not making it very appealing at all for childminders. The legislation is just too strict entirely.”
Tina cited issues with changes to emergency cover, everyday risk assessments and said the policy is more geared towards centre-based settings.
“Under the new regulations your days have to be set in stone, there’s no bit of freedom or flexibility with it. If there is, you’re talking extra paperwork to allocate for that,” she said.
“It’s just becoming too institutionalised, really, for a home setting. That’s the way I look at it.”
The Department of Children said the regulations are designed to be “proportionate and appropriate” to the home and family setting in which childminders work and “differ substantially” from those for centre-based childcare.
The department has committed to undertake a review of the initial implementation of the new rules, which is due commence in the coming weeks.
“The review will include consultation with childminders and other stakeholders and will provide an important opportunity to learn lessons from initial experiences with the regulations,” it said.
Of the estimated 13,000 childminders across the country, only 166 had registered with Tusla as of February.
That figure should “raise alarm” for the department, according to Childminding Ireland.
“It is a strong indication that the system being developed is not working in practice for the vast majority of home-based childminders,” it said.