A local childminder is calling for changes in childcare ratios in Northern Ireland to allow for flexibility that many parents in Fermanagh require.

Caroline Rice, a childminder based in Lisnaskea is unable to provide flexible childcare for her clients due to restrictive ratios in Northern Ireland.

She explained: "I can only speak for childminders, as a childminder we are only allowed three children under school age at any one given time in our home. That’s the maximum potential that a childminder has to earn income, from three full-time children but we all know parents work part-time nowadays. They’re looking for less hours, they’re looking for more flexibility but the standards in Northern Ireland do not allow us to be flexible with our childcare provision."

She continued: "Myself, I’m allowed three children under five, I had four children under five in my books in April but they were all part-time, but I only ever had three children on one given day. Although they were all part-time, I had to charge parents a full day rate."

"I was still charging them for a full day even though they may have only been here for five hours because we are not allowed to be flexible," she added.

Due to the strict ratios, Caroline highlighted how she can't provide continuity of care for her clients.

"I had one parent come into me around April and say, 'my work has changed my hours next week, can you take my child on Tuesday instead of Thursday'. I had to say no because that would have meant on Tuesday I would have had four children so that’s the first big issue, we have no continuity of care here," shared Caroline.

She added: "We cannot be flexible with working parents who only work part-time because the only way I can be flexible is if I was to only take two children at any one given time to allow that extra space to be vacant all the time. It doesn’t make financial sense for me or any childminder."

Shedding a light on why childcare costs are what they are, Caroline said: "The cost of childcare is there because of the standards and the policies, there’s no flexibility so that cost is being put back on parents. We are being told we have to make an income because we are self-employed but we can only have three children under the age of five at any one given time."

"It’s the way our policies are, it’s the way our standards are, the way our implementations are that are creating this vicious circle that we have to put a charge on it because we can’t offer the flexibility, the only way we can offer the flexibility is if we cut our numbers," she added.

Caroline and other childminders in the area have set up a petition to lobby the Department of Health about the childcare ratios they have to adhere to.

"We want answers on how they came to the conclusion of these policies, how they came to the conclusion of these ratios because as far as we can make out, childminders are not being consulted," Caroline commented.

Speaking to The Impartial Reporter regarding the childcare ratios for childminders, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health in Northern Ireland commented: "The ratio is there for safety and quality of the childcare."

However she added that the childcare standards in Northern Ireland will be reviewed in mid-2020.