Creche charging for child's place during closure.

Blud

faceman wrote: »

Sadly this is the point people are missing. I’m hearing of plenty of people claiming they’re essential workers when they’re not. People aren’t getting that the virus is out of control, hospital system on the verge of collapse. Kids won’t get it but will bring it home. Who wants to risk getting sick during a time the health service is going to collapse giving sub standard care to people

We are in a dangerous new period with the virus. Up to now I wouldn’t have been concerned but that has changed now

Kids won't get it but will bring it home?

First - any source for that claim?

Second - how is it possible for them to bring it home without catching it? Contagious without being infected?

Give your head a wobble. Kids either get it or they don't.

YellowLead

Blud wrote: »

Kids won't get it but will bring it home?

First - any source for that claim?

Second - how is it possible for them to bring it home without catching it? Contagious without being infected?

Give your head a wobble. Kids either get it or they don't.

Actually you can spread it without having it by not washing your hands. If you touch an infected surface then go and touch other things/people.

sphinxicus

youcancallmeal wrote: »

Ours has been open since the 4th, they will remain open for essential workers otherwise if you can't/won't send your kids in from Monday 11th then you just need to pay for the 1st week in Jan which is fair enough. They were open for business whether you sent your kids or not.

We can't send our kids in even if we wanted to as we are not "frontline" workers. (The rest of their email suggested they were speaking about healtcare staff which is absolutely fine by me. With the state of the numbers i believe as few people as possible should be sending the kids in).


Thats good that your creche have communicated that you dont need to pay for the dates you dont use in January. Ours seem to be avoiding the subject which is why I wondered if there was any official government response to funding for them as there was in March.

neris

been no offical response from govt re funding for the next few weeks and they say an update will be given today. The list of essential workers is also very long and covers a huge amount of jobs that most parents could probably claim to be essential and need to send kids in

kennethsmyth

sphinxicus wrote: »

Is there any word from the government as to if the same funding is to be given to the creches again as was in March? Or are parent expected to pay for no use? Last time round our creche took full fees for march without asking even after the offer from the government to pay staff wages. Eventualy they signed up for the system to accept the offer but we never saw a refund for the remainder of March that they could have been paid for. They did buy some lovely christmas decorations this year though


We have had an email from them stating that they and staff are afraid to open but will do for essential "frontline" workers. They havent opened at all in 2021 yet. They have said that the first week will be refunded as that was their choice to stay shut. No mention on refunds for the remainder of January yet. We have had to arrange unpaid leave to look after our kids now.

They have to refund if they put the “frontline” tag in themselves. Government has issued what is considered essential and they can either refund all non frontline but essential workers crèche fees or accept all essential workers kids. They don’t get to do both.

hurleronditch

faceman wrote: »

Kids won’t get it but will bring it home.

Our son got it in crèche and brought it home to me and my wife, so please stop spreading lies/falsehoods/amateur epidemiology online.

We’re all fine thankfully and well recovered, and I believe the crèches can and should stay open where possible, but your misinformation helps nobody either.

kennethsmyth

kerryjack wrote: »

Shops like mr price still open never closed in March I would say all construction work is essential to someone, should be a complete shutdown for 3 weeks for everything and 1 person from each house left in to a shop for food only.

How about no, wear a mask, wash your hands and abide by the rules. If Mr Price has essentials in their products so be it. A complete shutdown would only affect those who are abiding by the rules at present - do not punish them further or else there will be a pushback.

sphinxicus

neris wrote: »

been no offical response from govt re funding for the next few weeks and they say an update will be given today.

Thanks for that. I'll wait with baited breath so . Why the govt cant announce this at the same time god only knows. It's not like their decision for closing creches bares any relation to fees now is it :rolleyes:

neris wrote: »

The list of essential workers is also very long and covers a huge amount of jobs that most parents could probably claim to be essential and need to send kids in

Oh we definately could claim to be essential workers but we are trying to think of the bigger picture. I.e. its not essential that we need childcare if we are at home so we shouldnt be selfish and put multiple kids into creche therefore increasing everyones risk further.



We can just about manage financially by taking unpaid leave a couple of days a week each, providing we dont have to pay the creche fees on top of it.

sphinxicus

kennethsmyth wrote: »

They have to refund if they put the “frontline” tag in themselves. Government has issued what is considered essential and they can either refund all non frontline but essential workers crèche fees or accept all essential workers kids. They don’t get to do both.

That is a very interesting point that i didn't think of. Thanks for pointing it out

KingCong

Blud wrote: »

Kids won't get it but will bring it home?

Second - how is it possible for them to bring it home without catching it? Contagious without being infected?

Give your head a wobble. Kids either get it or they don't.

I'd say what they meant was asymptomatic transmission, having covid with no symptoms but still capable of spreading it.

faceman

hurleronditch wrote: »

Our son got it in crèche and brought it home to me and my wife, so please stop spreading lies/falsehoods/amateur epidemiology online.

We’re all fine thankfully and well recovered, and I believe the crèches can and should stay open where possible, but your misinformation helps nobody either.

Eh, read my post again. That’s what I said.

Also suggesting crèches should stay open is sharing amateur epidemiology online given the guidance from NPHET

faceman

Blud wrote: »

Kids won't get it but will bring it home?

First - any source for that claim?

Second - how is it possible for them to bring it home without catching it? Contagious without being infected?

Give your head a wobble. Kids either get it or they don't.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/02/symptomless-cases-schools-key-driver-spread-covid-19

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30236-X/fulltext

Dravokivich

It's very annoying the way RTE seem to be bunching all the news into 1 feed that gets overwritten. I saw the following being mentioned:

""
The Minister for Children has said his Department has asked childcare providers to repay, refund or credit fees to parents from next Monday.
,""

Has anyone else seen anything about those comments?

Dravokivich

Mod:

We are not going to discuss the infection / transmission rate involving kids here please keep such topics to the Covid forum.

sphinxicus

Dravokivich wrote: »

""
The Minister for Children has said his Department has asked childcare providers to repay, refund or credit fees to parents from next Monday.
,""

Has anyone else seen anything about those comments?

Just read the following document on gov.ie. To quote from it:

Parental Fees

14.

I am not an essential worker, and therefore cannot send my children to childcare. Do I still need to pay fees?


Early learning and childcare providers have been requested by the Minister for Children to pause payment of fees, return fees paid in advance for the period of service that they have not been able to access, or arrange a credit for another time.The Government has confirmed that the Employee Wage Subsidy Scheme, which was made available to all childcare services to avail of,
will continue at the revised increased rates to ensure the sustainability of the sector where income was adversely affected due to closures or reductions in fee income.

Olivia Pope

We don't qualify for the criteria that our creche has for attending as of next week. We won't be charged. Very relieved that we won't be charged this month for a service that we won't be getting.

limericklad87

Unfortunately our creche is considering closing as they only have 6 kids in each day this week. Neither of us can WFH so hope they stay open

I'm an essential worker and wouldn't dream of sending any of my kids to either school or creche.
It's not essential.
I took my 2 yo out before the first lockdown and he hasn't returned.
Took my kids out of school too.
It's just not worth it.
Both me and my husband work. We just work around it. Have no family either.
Numbers are too high and the new variant is too unknown is it really worth it to send kids to creche?

dubrov

It's great you can still do your job while at home with the kids. Many can't so the choice is creche or take holidays/unpaid leave

faceman

dubrov wrote: »

It's great you can still do your job while at home with the kids. Many can't so the choice is crèche or take holidays/unpaid leave

It’s incredible how people who aren’t essential workers feel they have to send their kids to crèche at the moment. The government needs to intervene and enforce what essential is. This will mean subsidising crèches so they can refund non essential worker parents

I just can’t fathom why childcare is being prioritised over health and safety.

witchgirl26

faceman wrote: »

It’s incredible how people who aren’t essential workers feel they have to send their kids to crèche at the moment. The government needs to intervene and enforce what essential is. This will mean subsidising crèches so they can refund non essential worker parents

I just can’t fathom why childcare is being prioritised over health and safety.

What is the other alternative though? Some people can't do their job while minding their child so it's either childcare, take annual leave or take unpaid leave which many can't afford to do.

Technically per the list on gov.ie I qualify as an "essential" worker but I personally would question it. That said, there is no way both myself and my partner can work full time at home and take care of a very active 19 month old. It's not fair on our employers or our child.

My creche asked us to submit a form for assessment of returning and I was completely honest in it but I'm really hoping their able to take him in next week. Otherwise I'll end up using most of my annual leave and my partner the same to look after him properly. I'll respect whatever decision they make though and not argue with them - at the end of the day, they're putting themselves on the frontline and I do really appreciate what they do.

faceman

witchgirl26 wrote: »

What is the other alternative though? Some people can't do their job while minding their child so it's either childcare, take annual leave or take unpaid leave which many can't afford to do.

As I said, it’s a health and safety issue. There is no alternative but to stay home. That should be paramount.

jlm29

witchgirl26 wrote: »

What is the other alternative though? Some people can't do their job while minding their child so it's either childcare, take annual leave or take unpaid leave which many can't afford to do.

Technically per the list on gov.ie I qualify as an "essential" worker but I personally would question it. That said, there is no way both myself and my partner can work full time at home and take care of a very active 19 month old. It's not fair on our employers or our child.

My creche asked us to submit a form for assessment of returning and I was completely honest in it but I'm really hoping their able to take him in next week. Otherwise I'll end up using most of my annual leave and my partner the same to look after him properly. I'll respect whatever decision they make though and not argue with them - at the end of the day, they're putting themselves on the frontline and I do really appreciate what they do.

The alternative is whatever you would do if the crèche closed down like it did last March?

baldbear

Haven't heard a word from our crèche,Giraffe, regarding fees.

witchgirl26

faceman wrote: »

As I said, it’s a health and safety issue. There is no alternative but to stay home. That should be paramount.

I understand it's a health & safety issue. That's why I will be led by the creche on their decision however I am pointing out that it does mean that some people will not be able to work during this time which will have an impact on both them & the businesses they work for.

jlm29 wrote: »

The alternative is whatever you would do if the crèche closed down like it did last March?

So last March when it closed down my son was a lot younger, took 2 naps a day & wasn't moving around too much so it was a little easier to manage. Add in that my partner got reduced to 50% hours meant we could just about do it. This time around he's an active 19 month old who wants attention and entertainment constantly, he's not at an age where he can play by himself very long & we're both on full time hours. I'm not saying we completely disregard health & safety - we've been doing our best during all of this to limit contacts etc. What I am saying is that it is going to be extremely tough on people who rely on childcare to be able to work. And if their creche is willing to take the child, then both the creche & the parents have to accept the health & safety risk.

neris

baldbear wrote: »

Haven't heard a word from our crèche,Giraffe, regarding fees.

At the moment the Creches & providers are still in a sort of limbo with the Department. They havent advised or said whats going to happen with fees or funding and how creches should operate from next week. Information was put out for parents yesterday evening without telling the providers and then this information was only communicated to providers at 1015 last night in an email that also said advice and information for providers would be given to them today (friday) howver the Dept also have a very bad habit of communicating with providers after 6pm so dont be surprised if you get an email or communication from your creche tomorrow

dubrov

dubrov wrote: »

It's great you can still do your job while at home with the kids. Many can't so the choice is creche or take holidays/unpaid leave

Still going out to work
Not at home.
And if we had to work at home we'd work around each other.
The choice between kids and families health versus unpaid leave is non existant.

tfeldi

baldbear wrote: »

Haven't heard a word from our crèche,Giraffe, regarding fees.

Same. Also Giraffe

baldbear

neris wrote: »

At the moment the Creches & providers are still in a sort of limbo with the Department. They havent advised or said whats going to happen with fees or funding and how creches should operate from next week. Information was put out for parents yesterday evening without telling the providers and then this information was only communicated to providers at 1015 last night in an email that also said advice and information for providers would be given to them today (friday) howver the Dept also have a very bad habit of communicating with providers after 6pm so dont be surprised if you get an email or communication from your creche tomorrow

With all those advisors wouldn't you think their communication would be better.

I just saw a friends email from Links crèche. It said as advised crèches are safe so everyone can send there kids to crèche there. It's a shambles.

pc7

Our creche rang to say if wfh and can’t do so with kids at home can send them in! The whole thing is nuts at this stage.