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THE SUPPLY OF baby boxes to new parents across the country won’t begin until the second half of next year at the earliest, the Minister for Children has said.
Whilst the measure was included in the programme for government, Minister Roderic O’Gorman has said that “owing to Covid-19, work on this project has been delayed”.
The ‘baby box’ will see thousands of newborns benefit through a box that can act as a cot and includes baby clothes, small toys, baby toothbrushes and books to help them through their early development.
The initiative started in the 1930s in Finland, where expectant mothers were given a box, or “starter kit”, full of clothes, sheets and toys. It has also been rolled out by the Scottish government in recent years.
Pilot schemes have also been conducted in Wexford Hospital and University Maternity Hospital Limerick.
Last month, Fine Gael TD for Dublin-Rathdown Neale Richmond promoted baby boxes and told Newstalk’s Hard Shoulder programme that it “makes sure that everybody has the exact same start in life, regardless of supports, age or indeed social-economic background”. He noted that the boxes have been included in the programme for government.
He also called for O’Gorman – a Green Party minister – to lay out a “speedy baby box timeline”.
Now, the minister has indicated that the boxes will begin to be rolled out around the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2021.
In response to a parliamentary question, O’Gorman said that the upcoming project will “pilot and test the design, items for inclusion, registration and distribution of baby boxes in a selected geographic area”.
He added: “Owing to Covid-19, work on this project has been delayed. However, an oversight group will be established later this year to oversee this development.”
O’Gorman said a number of factors would have to be considered, such as the geographic area that the scheme is piloted, if the box should be provided pre- or post-natal and the exact contents of the box.
A researcher will also oversee focus groups and/or consultations with new and expectant parents to inform them what will be in their baby box.
The minister said: “Following this initial scoping phase, which should conclude by end Q1 2021, the Oversight Group will oversee a competitive procurement process to appoint suitable tenderers to a) develop and distribute the baby boxes and b) undertake a full evaluation of the pilot.
Given the likely value of these contracts, the procurement process will take several months. It is therefore envisaged that distribution of the baby boxes will commence in end Q3 2021 / early Q4 2021.
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Another reminder that the children’s hospital is being built in the wrong location. Every time there is an accident on the M50 roads into Dublin cannot manage the level of traffic.
Inside the M50 belt just does not make sense.
@Ciarán McPhillips: such a scary thought for a child to be in an ambulance and caught up on the M50. Disgraceful decision.
@Deborah Behan: We’re sleepwalking our way towards that exact situation. The mind boggles.
No doubt caused by some muppet hammering up the outside/city lanes and then nipping in to go northbound. We need to start a campaign to not let queue jumpers in.
@mcgoo:
Or perhaps allowing queue jumpers in would stop the accidents
Meanwhile here in Leitrim….
@Patrick J. O’Rourke: who cares about a dying county like Leitrim
@Michael Walsh: We are not dying. We’re generally quite happy that we don’t have to become a slave to make a living. Who cares about the septic tank that is Dublin? See…same question.
@Patrick J. O’Rourke: As a Dub myself id agree. Dublin is grinding to a standstill as we repeat the mistakes of the Celtic tiger years and continue to vote for political organisations who have their and not the nation as a whole best interests at heart.
@Patrick J. O’Rourke: jealous
@quality cheese: Did you post this on your 6 hour journey to work or from bed this morning? Hard to tell…. but “quality cheese”…… your at home
@Michael Walsh: like it or not your taxes keep Leitrim going.
@quality cheese: A tendency to resort to insults shows quite clearly a lack of intellect.
Tailgating is the problem. Its amazing cars doing 140kph tailgating just 1 metre behind the car in front. Amazing breaking system they must have to avoid a crash if the car in front suddenly breaks. KEEP YOUR DISTANCE. 1m for every 2kph. Eg a car must leave 200 metres distance at 100 kph.
@Brendan Mason: That and the roads were wet this morning, come this way every morning before 7am.
Speed limit drops from 100 kp to 80 kp, most people dont pay any heed to that.
Many go beyond it.
Zero police enforcement and bad driving skills, welcome to Irish driving!
@Brendan Mason: 1m for every 2kph? Therfore using your formula travelling around 100kph should have a gap of 50m not 200m. Anyway if anyone left a gap of 200m on an Irish motorway they’d be flashed at (lights) and abused by other road users.
@Brendan Mason: The accident happened close to the Luas car park junction before the M50. Given the time of morning the accident occurred, and it being a Monday which is probably the busiest morning of the week anyway, it’s virtually an impossibility that cars were traveling at 140kph, or anywhere remotely close to that speed.
@Tommy Roche: the 140 kph is an example. 4okph may be enough to cause a crash if cars are close enough to each other .
@Brendan Mason: 40 kph sorry.
@Brendan Mason: I drive as part of my job and find that if you do leave a gap to the car in front then you’ll always have a gimp who will try to squeeze their car into that gap meaning you have to jam on the breaks
@Brendan Mason: 1mtr behind a car in front driving at 140kmh? Bit of an exaggeration don’t you think. Most drivers wouldn’t be able to judge 60, 80,100mtrs. Little tip – if you are overtaking in the out most lane try keep right of centre of your lane. You will be able to see the break lights of the second car in front.
@Brendan Mason: if you keep the right distance some mope jumps in in front of you that cuts your distance your bolloxed then . This happens very often rant over
For a lot of tech companies e.g. Facebook, Dell, Amazon, people can work from home quite a bit. With some planning you dont need mega-speed broadband either. Can’t help but think some of these businesses could make the leap to commuter towns and beyond. Clonakility has a multinational, the workers have houses, sea-air, little traffic and are 30 mins from Cork for a bit of life, and the airport also. Not ignoring the lack of routes currently available, but if more large towns within 60 mins of Galway, Limerick and Cork were utilised, how much better would life be for people? It will only take one big tech company to lead the way.
Vomit. How do people put up with this shit everyday of their lives.
Life is short people.
@Ciarán McPhillips: I ment 50 metres for 100 kph.
70 metres for 140 kph etc.
@Brendan Mason: but they are not leaving a fraction of that distance. Gung ho. Flash lights. The road is mine attitude. Slap on the breaks etc.
@Brendan Mason:
Spot on. Clueless behaviour.
H
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