On selected days, MPs can now entrust their little ones to professional care available on the spot.
The project follows through on a pledge made last year by Lower House Speaker Szymon Hołownia to open a “toddler club”.
The Lower House play room has now launched and the first kids have been enrolled, according to the Rzeczpospolita daily.
"We are expecting three toddlers," Katarzyna Karpa-Świderek of the Speaker’s Office told the daily ahead of a two-day sitting starting on Tuesday.
Although for now the initiative is not generating significant interest among lawmakers, it is receiving positive feedback from experts.
According to Rzeczpospolita, the daycare centre is located at the premises of the parliamentary hotel where MPs are accommodated.
The site is equipped with toys, books and furniture suitable for the youngest users, Karpa-Świderek told the newspaper.
Professional staff is responsible for caring for the children, she added.
The daycare is set to operate on the Lower House's sitting days and their eves.
The ongoing operation of the site will hinge on the interest shown by MPs.
In introducing the idea, Hołownia earlier emphasised that the Lower House (the Sejm) should be a child-friendly place.
He added he was aware that it is sometimes challenging to reconcile all factors, such as the working hours of the parliament with those of caregivers, nurseries or kindergartens.
Hołownia had come up with the idea after one lawmaker attended a parliamentary session alongside her son, which sparked some controversy but also a widespread discussion.
Unlike other employees or public servants in Poland, MPs are not entitled to maternity leave or days off for childcare.
(mo)
Source: Rzeczpospolita, PAP
