Childcare should be treated as critical infrastructure

Leitrim County Council has been called on to treat childcare as critical infrastructure

Published 13th May 2026, 09:00 BST There is a severe lack of childcare places in the Carrick-on-Shannon District Leitrim County Council has been called on to treat childcare as critical infrastructure Sign up to our Leitrim Live newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know you can manage your profile, and explore all of the available newsletters from Leitrim Live within your account.

Leitrim County Council has been called on to treat childcare as critical infrastructure and urgently support the delivery of new facilities under the State’s Early Learning and Childcare Capital Programme.

Cllr Maeve Reynolds (FG) brought a motion to this week's monthly meeting of Carrick-on-Shannon Municipal District.

Her motion asked that, “this Municipal District requests the Executive to identify and assess any council owned land, buildings or other publicly controlled sites within the MD area that may have potential for development as State led childcare facilities under the new national initiative.”

Cllr Reynold's motion also called on the council executive to “examine any planning, zoning servicing, or infrastructural constraints affecting their suitability and to update the Municipal District as appropriate on any relevant findings or opportunities arising.”

Speaking on her motion, Cllr Reynolds outlined stark figures in relation to childcare. “Carrick-on-Shannon Municipal District covered a population of 12,634, according to the 2022 Census.

“In this district, there are zero creche places available for children aged 0 to 1, only 10 places in existence for children aged from 1 to 2 and only 24 places for children aged 2 and above,” she added.

“These are not places that are full or unavailable. They simply do not exist,” she said. “There are no crèche places in our county town for children under 2 years and 8 months,” she continued.

Cllr Reynolds acknowledged that other municipal districts face challenges, but stated that the situation in Carrick was severe due to the absence of provision for children aged under two.

“There is a systemic failure in childcare provision in Co. Leitrim,” she told the meeting.

“I am not asking the council to become a childcare provider but the council should be a gatekeeper to services,” she added.

Cllr Reynolds also referenced the Council executive response, which pointed to planning frameworks, zoning considerations, the upcoming County Development Plan 2029–2039, and a desktop review of council-owned lands that may yield few or no suitable sites.

She also noted planned childcare provision in future housing developments such as Lisnagat.

However, she said none of these measures addressed the immediate crisis.

“A future development plan does not create a childcare place for a parent returning to work now,” she said. “A desktop exercise that is expected to find ‘zero sites’ does not resolve the crisis — it simply describes it.”

She warned that deferring action to future planning cycles would mean “another decade where young families are left without provision”.

The motion was supported widely by the other councillors. “If we can't provide childcare, then people won't live here,” Cllr Enda Stenson (Ind) stated.

A reply from the council stated, “The Local Authority remains a supporting actor in the delivery of childcare facilities.

“The future Lisngat social housing scheme (approx. 100 units) includes for the provision of a childcare facility as part of the overall layout plan and this will be the case into the future on larger housing developments, be they private or social.

“A desktop assessment of Local Authority owned sites and buildings which have no defined end purpose and which have the appropriate zoning will be undertaken for Carrick-on-Shannon, Mohill, Leitrim and Dromod and will be circulated to the elected members when complete, with the clear understanding that any lands identified are not considered to have met any of the various criteria that a planning authority require when assessing a planning application for a childcare facility,” the reply added.

“It is likely that this desktop exercise will yield zero sites or buildings in some of the the above towns” the reply further stated.

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