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

This is a challenging situation for people. I am aware that some parents cannot find places for children under three years of age. That is the reality and it is the reason we have provided capital funding of €4 million to focus on increasing capacity for that age group in particular. It is more costly to care for children who are under three years of age because a higher staff-to-child ratio applies. I have identified that we are also increasing the subsidy for the birth-to-three age category via the NCS, which will begin in November. We plan to deal with the concerns and difficulties in accessing places for those under three in a number of ways and we anticipate that the measures to be taken will make a significant difference.

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