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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.
Arkham Knight! I’ll have to ask Santa nicely for a PS4 console now. I can always wish… Failing that I can sell crack to blind kids & make a few bob that way.
Uncharted and LBP3 look amazing. The Order could be promising
Other than that it was just multiplatform stuff. (Far cry and AC Unity also look great).
That being said there isnt much to encourage me to but a PS4 until this time next year
but* = buy
Looking forward to Destiny, but what I really want is a Fallout 4 announcement of some sort
I’m really in want of a PS4 right now @.@
That’s more like it Sony, I was an xbox fan for so long, not anymore!!
Same. I had both an Xbox 360 and a PS3 but I only have a PS4 now.
Nothing about Bloodborne? Considering the director is the same guy who did Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls 1 you’d think there’d be more attention about it…
There was a vid released at e3 showcasing BloodBourne, journal doesn’t have it though.
The only one there with looking forward to is mgs
Really? The trailer bored the arse off me quite frankly. I know Kojima likes his long, theatrical…well, everything, but this was just obscure. Am I the only one that has no idea what the mechanical arm is about? Is Snake the guy that killed Harrison Ford’s wife in The Fugitive?
I’d hold off on getting it right away wait for it to come bundled with mgs ground zero
Abes odyssey in July it’s going to be new n tasty
DLNA and i’ll upgrade from the PS3. Until then not interested.
For the love of all that is good, no more multiplayer first person shooters! It’s depressing looking at the state of shelves for the PS4, making me regret ever going next gen from my xbox…
That being said…. GRIM FANDANGO!!!!
I’ve been waiting for a Grim Fandango remake for years.
Rainbow six siege I’ll say no more looks like a winner to me
Still no DLNA
Uncharted!! Wow
About 3 games look good. Rest look crap. MGS looks like it needs to just go away. The Playstation TV looks good, but needs more then just been able to play on different tv’s for me to be interested. But at least Mircosoft built theirs into the Xbone.
Can’t wait for BF Hardline, MGS, Star Wars Battlefront, The Division, Destiny, Uncharted 4, The Last of Us (remastered) and Rainbow Six to name a few!
Thought they might bring out a tablet to rival iPad mini.sony only have big tablets so far
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