Minister Stanton opens crèche at Clonea Centre

On Wednesday the 25 April 2018, the Minister of State for Equality, Immigration and Integration at the Department of Justice and Equality, Mr. David Stanton TD, opened a new crèche at Clonea Emergency Reception and Orientation Centre (EROC).

Centres such as Clonea act as hubs for the important range of services that need to be delivered to refugee families and individuals in the initial period of their relocation to Ireland under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP). This includes medical services, language training, education, cultural orientation and social protection services. The decision to provide an onsite crèche was taken after local childcare services were unable to provide sufficient places to cater for the refugees staying in the centre.

Minister Stanton said the lack of crèche places meant that: "mothers of young children had endured restricted opportunity to participate in English language programmes run by local education training board."

The crèche cost €50,000 to build, which was funded by the Department of Justice and Equality through EU funding.