There has been considerable anticipation mounting regarding the upcoming general election and the dissolution of the Dáil, so much so that government office walls currently flaunt multiple spreadsheets and whiteboards detailing potential dates. As an outsider observer, I’d compare the suspense to the fractured magnet strip of my refrigerator door.
Apart from politicians, their aides, journalists specialising in politics, and companies that manufacture election posters, parents of primary school children carry the most interest in the firm date. This is because schools close for the day, transforming into voting centres, obliging parents to arrange alternative care for their children. It’s as if the policy makers’ comprehension of scrambling to find last-minute day care is as alien to them as understanding why matter and antimatter didn’t destroy each other moments after the Big Bang, leaving behind only radiation.
In Ireland, procuring child care, especially at a short notice, is nearly an absent practice. Unless there’s a readily available and cooperative babysitter who can adapt to the unpredictable decisions of Simon Harris and the trials of Sinn Féin, acquiring childcare equates to choosing between approaching grandparents for assistance or taking a day off from work. Grandparents, who in the past forewent state pension by choosing to stay home and look after their own kids, are now tasked with the same responsibility yet again, at no cost, to uphold the democratic process.
For parents who already struggle to manage their children’s 77 annual school holidays and unique school timings, the addition of another day contending with childcare isn’t perhaps too burdensome. But it serves as a constant reminder that the existing school schedule has hardly changed since its implementation in the 1830s, despite the profound shifts in society.
Arranging childcare typically demands asking grandparents for help or taking leave from work. Meanwhile, Hazel Behan and Gisèle Pelicot are making a notable impact by sharing their powerful survivor stories with the world.
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When schools are shut down to function as election polling stations, it implies that education is secondary to other activities. This sentiment was expressed by the National Parents Council in light of the recent European elections. This practice insinuates another problematic assumption, suggesting that there is a stay-at-home parent for every primary school pupil, readily available to stand in whenever necessary.
The standard retort to parents questioning their ability to work when schools shut, as witnessed multiple times throughout the Covid crisis, is the assertion that schools are not childminding services. Alternatively, some criticise that if you aren’t able to look after your own offspring, you shouldn’t have them. To clear any misunderstandings, no one equates schools with babysitting services. They primarily exist for educational purposes and additionally serve various other functions. Teachers contribute significantly to the social and emotional growth of children, uncover hidden abilities and interests, identify potential issues in a child’s life, provide support when necessary, and even serve kindness, meals and last-minute funds for common school events. It isn’t typical for parents to accompany their children to school and hence the assumption that parents can go to work while their children are engaged in learning shouldn’t stir controversies.
The contrived debate between teachers and parents, many of whom are teachers themselves, benefits merely the politicians and perhaps Elon Musk. It keeps everyone engaged in endless pointless discussions instead of advocating for improved remuneration for teachers and childcare professionals. Not to mention affordable, government-subsidised, all-inclusive care during the working hours throughout the primary school years.
Childcare expenses have become more bearable under the current Government’s jurisdiction – the Government estimates they have slashed costs by half, while word-of-mouth suggests a reduction between 35 to 40 per cent. Nevertheless, this reduction stems from a high baseline and isn’t applicable at all to primary-age children who primarily rely on private babysitters or unpaid family members for after-school care.
Ultimately, the prospect of inexpensive childcare is of no consequence if you’re unable to secure a spot for your child. There’s a severe lack of availability in preschool places for toddlers. Post-school care tends to be makeshift at best and at its worst, it simply doesn’t exist. The vast majority of summer camps are so costly, you’d assume your child would return with a Master’s in Business Administration, not just a complimentary rucksack.
The concept of primary schools pausing their normal schedule to allow voting has become so ingrained in Irish culture, that it’s hardly ever criticised. The ideal alternative – to conduct the vote over the weekend – isn’t even considered, because politicians are not in favour. An attempt was made during the inconsequential children’s referendum but due to low voter turnout, the option was completely abandoned, falling into obscurity along with electronic voting machines and throuples, as subjects of pressing public discourse. Pay no heed to the fact that 25 out of the 27 other countries voting in the European elections managed to organise the voting over the weekend, without any harm to their democratic systems. It’s pointless to suggest utilising other venues like community halls or even churches for voting; they’ll clarify that’s a decision for the election officer.
Above all, don’t anticipate a vigorous debate on this matter, as politicians frequently speak about devising affordable and accessible childcare systems, but seem to dedicate as much thought to how families structure their daily lives as they do to what activity occurs within the Large Hadron Collider.