Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will move on to the affordable childcare scheme. The Minister has proposed to increase the threshold by 26% to €60,000 income per household for targeted supports to be provided for those not in receipt of social welfare, which is very welcome. The entire programme has, regrettably, taken a little longer than anticipated but it will be a tremendous success in providing supports to low and middle-income families who are not being supported through the social welfare system and are therefore not in receipt of other childcare-related supports. I do not want to diminish the importance of it, but €60,000 is very low. I understand that the Department only has so much money and that the State only has so much money, but the knock-on effect of the threshold being €60,000 is that it is lower than the €70,000 household income of a couple where both earn the average industrial wage of €35,000. As such, the benchmark is €70,000 and €60,000 is, I must admit, a bit disappointing. What is the projected increase in expenditure for the Department if the threshold were €70,000? That would allow the committee's members to consider the threshold in discussions we might have with other Ministers.