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by Lisa Walsh, Project Leader.
The Dublin North West Childcare Resource Centre has been developed from the funding made available under the National Childcare Strategy. This strategy and background detail to the funding, concept and development of the centre is outlined on the next page.
We in the Dublin North West region as defined by Dublin City Council. We cover Ballymun, Finglas, Glasnevin North, Whitehall and Santry. Our Childcare Resource Centre is  funded by the Dublin City Childcare Committee but is managed by the Ballymun Partnership and we are based in the Ballymun Partnerships premises in the Ballymun Shopping centre. The centre is a local area based 'one stop shop' for anyone seeking information on childcare. The centre will provide information in our premises but we also plan to outreach so as to cover the Dublin North West region.
Picture: The staff from the childcare Resource Centre and Ballymun Partnership met with the team from Pen Green in Northamptonshire.
There are three staff members in the centre as follows:
Lisa Walsh: Project Leader
Esther Byrne: Information Officer
Ann Doyle: Information Officer.
We offer information and support to parents, providers of childcare, childcare workers, Home based childminders and employers. We will support childcare services with applications to the Department of Justice Equality and Law Reform funding under the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme (EOCP). We also provide support for the services that have already been funded under this programme.
We aim to provide a service for:
Parents
Information about childcare services locally
Advice about how to select childcare services for your child
Childcare Providers
Information about childcare funding
Opportunity to network with other local service providers
Advertisement of job vacancies
Information about childcare support agencies e.g. NCNA, IPPA, Barnados etc.
Childcare Workers
Career planning advice
Jobs and training
Home Based Childminders
Opportunity to network
Information (e.g. child development)
Training availability
Government grants
Health Board services
Employers
Resource and Referral employers/employees to find local childcare appropriate to their needs
The National Childcare Strategy was informed by research conducted by an expert working group on childcare under the National Development Plan. This research found that a co-ordinated strategic plan for childcare in Ireland was necessary. Therefore, County Childcare Committees were established throughout Ireland to implement the National Childcare Strategy.
As part of the National Childcare Strategy, co-ordinated by the Department of Justice Equality and Law reform, the Dublin City Childcare committee (DCCC) was established to develop and implement a coordinated strategic plan for childcare provision within the Dublin city area for the period to 2006. The DCCC has representation from statutory agencies, National Voluntary Childcare Organisations, parents, Childcare Providers, Social Partners, local development partnerships and an equality and diversity representative. The DCCC is funded under the National Childcare Strategy by the Equal Opportunity Childcare Programme 2000 - 2006 (EOCP). This funding is managed by the Department of Justice equality and Law Reform. The funding is also part funded by EU structural funds under the National Development Plan 2000 - 2006 (NDP).
The main objectives of the EOCP are:
to improve the quality of childcare
to maintain and increase the number of childcare facilities and places
to introduce a co-ordinated approach to the delivery of childcare services
"The Dublin City Childcare Committee is committed to creating an environment that values all children, by facilitating the development of an infrastructure of high quality edu-care services that support the holistic development of children in the context of family and community throughout Dublin City".
Through research carried out by the DCCC, parents expressed a desire for childcare information to be provided locally, the DCCC is committed to developing structures that facilitate closer involvement at local level. These 'points of reference' once established will be a support within the community for anyone seeking information on childcare.The Dublin North West Childcare Resource Centre is one of these local 'points of reference' . It is envisaged that there will be five local childcare resource centres in Dublin in the five regions of Dublin as defined by Dublin City Council. There is currently one other Resource centre in operation in Dublin North Central and another one in progress in Dublin South East. The local resource centres are fundamental to the implementation of the National Childcare Strategy.
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