Childminders are reporting a significant fall in the amount of time that parents want to put their child in daycare, according to a new survery.

According to the study, which spoke to childminders across the country, nearly 50pc of parents have reduced the number of hours for which they are seeking childcare in the past year, the Irish Times reports.

Childminding Ireland, which commissioned the study of its members, say the fall in demand is a result of the recession. The survey questionnaire was posted to 745 registered members of Childminding Ireland and the response rate was 26 per cent.

However figures from 2009 suggested that demand for fulltime childcare may not be as high as previously thought.

Data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed that only 31 per cent pre-school children are looked after outside the home for part of each day. These children are mainly looked after in Montessori schools and playgroups. A further 13 per cent are looked after by non-parental relatives.

Meanwhile, it emerged last year that parents of an estimated 30,000 children eligible for the Government’s ‘free’ pre-school year failed to enrol in the scheme, also suggesting that demand for paid childcare is lower than estimated.

The scheme, Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), pays for two and a quarter hours per day of childcare for one year with providers receiving a set fee from the State based on the number of places filled.

The most recent survey found that in some cases parents reduced hours of childminding by just a few hours but in other instances hours of childminding were halved.

Overall, 45 per cent of childminders reported that parents had reduced the number of hours for which they were seeking childcare in 2010. Of these 76 per cent reported a reduction in the parents’ working hours or pay as the reason for this change.

Other reasons given included the birth of a second or third child, family members providing help with childcare and the introduction of the free pre-school year.

In addition the percentage of childminders who reported they were providing after-school care dropped to 42 per cent last year, down from 52 per cent in 2008. This too, according to Childminding Ireland, may reflect the impact of the recession with grandparents or extended-family members having stepped in to provide after-school care to ease the financial burden of struggling families.

The survey also found significant variations in childminding fees across the State, with rates highest in Cork at an average of €205 a week. In the east fees were higher in commuter-belt counties such as Wicklow, Meath and Kildare than in Dublin.

In Dublin the average weekly cost of childcare quoted by childminders who responded to the survey was €177 while in Wicklow it stood at €199, in Meath €187 and in Kildare €186.

The EU has set targets on how many children it believes ought to be in childcare. In 2002, at the Barcelona Summit, the European Council said that at least 90 per cent of children between 3 years old and the mandatory school age and at least 33 per cent of children under 3 years of age should be receiving childcare by 2010.