Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the ESRI's report which highlights the challenges childcare costs present for families in Ireland, particularly for women who wish to return to or remain in work. Providing a childcare infrastructure that enables accessible, affordable and quality childcare is a cornerstone of my work as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. I have stated on numerous occasions that the cost of childcare is not a problem that can be fixed in a single budget. Ireland has seen low levels of investment in this area for many decades, tailing the levels of investment across Europe and the OECD. We have started to address this underinvestment in the past three budgets, with the level of investment increased by some 80% since 2015. I acknowledge, however, that there is still a long way to go. To fully address the cost of childcare, we need continued investment in childcare infrastructure. This investment will, in turn, reap dividends for the country by enabling women who wish to work to do so, in so doing boosting the economy.

Just before the summer recess I was delighted to be able to put the entitlement of families to financial support for childcare on a legislative footing for the first time in the history of the State. This came about with the passing of the Childcare Support Act. The affordable childcare scheme will mark a major turning point in the subsidisation of childcare in this country. It will enable us to pass on to parents whatever investment the Exchequer can make available to lower childcare costs. Now that the legislation for the scheme is in place, we are focusing on the development of the IT and administrative infrastructure for the scheme and this work is continuing apace. I hope to report to the Government shortly on a timeframe for the project. To assist parents and families in the interim, as I referred to, I put measures in place last September to provide a non-means-tested subsidy of up to €1,040 per year for children aged between six months and the time at which they are eligible for the early childhood care and education, ECCE, scheme. We have also enhanced subsidies for families that need it most by 50%, up to €145 per week for children up to 15 years of age. These and many other measures support the objective of ensuring more women will be able to return to work.

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