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

Providing a childcare infrastructure that enables accessible, affordable, quality childcare for all has been a cornerstone of my work as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs since 2016. The research report is from that year. The years I have been in office as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs have seen an unprecedented increase in investment in key early learning and care, ELC, and school age childcare, SAC, areas, with annual investment rising to €574 million, a 117% increase since 2015. The increases have allowed us to introduce measures designed to be a major step towards accessible, affordable and quality ELC and SAC after decades of under-investment by successive Governments.

The measures I have introduced include increases of up to 50% in targeted subsidies since 2016 and the introduction of a universal childcare subvention payment of up to €1,040 per annum for the care of children aged from six months to the first eligible point of entry of the early childhood care and education, ECCE, programme. We have also since the report was carried out doubled the free pre-school scheme ECCE to enable parents access to two years instead of one. These changes are waypoints towards our goal of delivering genuine affordable, accessible, quality ELC and SAC. The launch of the new affordable childcare scheme this coming October will alter the landscape of childcare in Ireland. It will provide financial support for parents, establish a sustainable platform for investment in the childcare sector for decades to come and, crucially, allow us to continue to invest in giving children the best start in life.

In December I signed regulations which will provide, for the first time, for the registration of school-age childcare services with Tusla. The regulations came into force yesterday, 18 February. This means that parents of school-age children will be eligible to apply for subsidies under the affordable childcare scheme from the outset. Under measures included in budget 2019, I was able to further enhance the affordable childcare scheme by raising the upper and lower thresholds for income-related subsidies, meaning that maximum subsidy rates will now be paid to all families with a net annual income of up to €26,000, up from €22,700. The increases will ensure an even greater number of families will benefit from the highest subsidy rates available under the scheme once it is launched.

It is also important to note, particularly in the context of our discussion, that the Childcare Support Act 2018, the legislative basis for the new scheme, specifies five statutory bodies which may make agreements on referral procedures for free or additional childcare for children with the greatest level of need. These are known as sponsor arrangements. I also highlight that First 5, the Government’s ten-year strategy for babies, young children and their families, was launched in November 2018. It is a fundamental concept which provides for a progressive universalism and seeks to strengthen the supports and services available for all babies, young children and families and put in place additional measures for those with additional needs.

I am committed to continuing to radically reform childcare services for the benefit of children, families, women, our society and economy. I believe that when the ESRI or any other research body does a similar piece of work utilising SILC CSO data from 2017, 2018 or 2019, conclusions on the childcare needs of disadvantaged parents will have changed significantly for the better.

See this speech in context