Budget measures endorses €8m Athlone investment
Athlone Voice and Athlone Topic, 13 December 2005
A major childcare and nursing home provider has said that measures contained in the Budget endorses an €8m investment it has made in Athlone."The measures in the Budget will go some way to addressing the childcare challenges facing Irish parents and the health and accommodation requirements for the elderly population", according to Gerry Jordan, CEO Sonas group.
"As a childcare practitioner, we are at the coalface of the issue and are fully conscious of the burden that many parents have to shoulder. For some, the experience has been akin to paying for a second mortgage," said Sonas CEO Gerry Jordan.
He welcomed the introduction of a tax-free childcare supplement of €1,000 to parents for each child up to his or her sixth birthday.
"It certainly is a start. Childcare must be, like in many European countries, a pressing issue which has led to a successful relationship between parents and the State. Thankfully, the measures in today's Budget do indicate that such a relationship has finally begun.
"And hopefully, it's the start of a solid relationship which will continue to blossom, whoever the Government will be in a year, five or ten years time," he said.
He also welcomed moves to increase the supply of childcare places, which include enhanced capital grant aid for private providers,
The Sonas group has invested €8m in developing childcare and nursing home facilities in Athlone and will employ a hundred people when all facilities are up and running. It also plans to invest €100 million in retirement care centres across Ireland over the next decade.
Sonas operates the Busy Kids crèche in Cloghanboy and will open a nursing home and independent living units on an adjacent site in the new year. Sonas headquarters will also be based in Athlone.
Mr Jordan also welcomed €20m being allocated to the Nursing Home Subvention Scheme for residents of private nursing homes. This, he said, would go towards supporting increasing numbers entitled to basic nursing home subvention.
"It must be remembered that the elderly population will grow from a base of 436,000 in 2003 to 767,300 by 2026. Given this, Sonas is fully committed to this challenge and we are doing this by investing €100m in new nursing home centres over the next ten years."
Along with Busy Kids in Athlone, Sonas operates three other crèches, two in Limerick and one in Lucan. It also runs nursing homes in Roscommon and Enniscrone and is currently looking forward to building care facilities on further greenfield sites around the country.
For further information, contact Sonas CEO, Gerry Jordan (087) 2521811, www.sonasgroup.com.
