UNITE the Union has warned that large numbers of registered childminders have left the sector due to a failure to raise staffing ratios in NI to levels elsewhere in the UK.

The union's registered childminder branch welcomed a recent announcement by Education Minister, Paul Givan, who vowed to provide children of pre-school age with 22.5 hours of funded, educationally-based preschool places. 

However, the branch warned that there was a risk that these commitments could become 'paper only', if the large-scale exodus of registered childminders from the sector is allowed to continue.

Registered childminders in Northern Ireland have children-staff ratios set by the Department of Health on the number of children they care, which are only 50 per cent of those enforced in England, Wales and Scotland. 

This means their incomes are capped but registered childminders face the same costs as elsewhere within the UK.

As a result, at last count, 361 registered childminders had left to take up alternative employment. 

Chair of Unite’s registered childminders branch, Dolores McCormick said: “We need a level playing field for a future for registered childminders in Northern Ireland.

"It’s long past time that the Department of Health listened to the voice of childminders - we know what works best for parents and providers. Enough is enough.”