Maeve O'Connell (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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117. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the work ongoing within her Department toward the reduction of childcare costs and making childcare more accessible; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7540/25]

Maeve O'Connell (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I want to ask the Minister about her ongoing work in the Department focusing on the reduction of childcare costs and making childcare more accessible. What are the plans to get to the commitment in the programme for Government to reduce childcare costs to €200 per child per month?

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Investment in early learning and childcare is now at unprecedented levels with public funding exceeding €1.37 billion in 2025, clearly demonstrating the Government’s commitment to this area. As well as addressing affordability, this investment has served to improve accessibility, availability and the quality of provision. The new programme for Government provides the impetus now to go much further and to deliver more high-quality early learning and childcare places at a cost that is affordable to families. Under this Government, the recently established supply management unit in the Department will be resourced and transformed into a forward planning and delivery unit to identify areas of need and better forecast demand.

Government is also committing this unit to introduce an element of public provision, as I referred to previously, with State-led facilities to add capacity in conjunction with capacity provided by private operators. As a key first step, the unit will work to identify the type and number of local places across the country and how that compares with the numbers of children in the corresponding age groups. A poll is nearing completion. It is being analysed and I hope to have awareness of that by the end of March or some time in April. Taking a more strategic approach to forward planning and the option of public delivery offers much greater scope to influence the type and amount of places available and to better align with families’ needs. This is a key concern for Government, that we are meeting the needs of parents. The scoping work being done to determine those needs will be very helpful in this respect. Record numbers are now benefiting from the national childcare scheme. A total of 220,000 children benefited from a subsidy under the scheme in 2024, with families using 45 hours receiving almost €100 per week. Fee controls, in place in almost 93% of services as a result of the core funding scheme, ensure the investment is not unnecessarily absorbed by fee increases. I am committed within the lifetime of the Government to continuing to improve affordability and reach the €200 per month target set. Further progress on affordability cannot be made in isolation, however, and must be integrated with our efforts to improve access, availability and quality.

Maeve O'Connell (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I appreciate the investment that has been made in early childcare. It has increased by about 40% in recent years, so it is quite a substantial investment. Unfortunately, as the Minister is well aware, we still have some of the highest childcare costs in Europe and we are second in the OECD countries. It is quite substantial and it is still quite a challenge for parents to try to meet. A recent Dublin Chamber of Commerce report found that nine out of ten businesses reported that the childcare crisis is a significant barrier to attracting and retaining staff. Not only is this affecting parents, children and childcare workers, it is also having a huge impact on business overall and is potentially affecting our competitiveness.

What are the Minister's plans on engaging with the existing childcare providers who are the backbone of the current system and know the parents and their communities? How will these be incorporated in the Minister's plans to get to the figure of €200 per month, per child?

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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As I said earlier, 178,000 children have claimed under the national childcare scheme this year. This is a 14% increase on last year. Year on year, we are seeing an increase in children availing of the national childcare scheme. We are also seeing an increase in availability. For the first time, childminders are now eligible to apply for the scheme. That is a further expansion of the scheme.

The sustainability and management aspects of the scheme are hugely important. I acknowledge that the Deputy referred to the significant funding that has gone into it up to this point. A total of 92% of eligible services have signed up to core funding. This is more than 4,400 services availing of core funding. The Deputy is correct about the programme for Government initiative on the €200 cost. We have given that commitment that it will be over the lifetime of the Government, so it will be done over the next five years. There will be engagement across all areas of the sector. Those working on the ground and parents are hugely important to determine how we will proceed.

Maeve O'Connell (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I acknowledge the Minister's comments on the investment and the work she is doing to try to address the issues in the system. However, there is one area I am not picking up on. The survey of parents is being done and that is very worthwhile, but I am particularly interested in the Minister's measures to try to engage with the existing providers about moving to a different model of childcare provision. The Minister has talked about trying to open up a public service basis and actually having services directly provided. Many childcare providers in my area of Dublin-Rathdown are concerned about how that could impact on them in the future. They have invested quite significantly in their businesses. They know their communities and the parents and they want to know how this will potentially impact them and if they are going to be engaged in this transition.

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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In my role as Minister, I will be engaging with all representative bodies regarding childcare provision. That is ongoing this week and will be for the next number of weeks. Their point of view and experiences will be very important to the general discussion we have on moving towards the €200 target that has been set. Equally important to that will be the voice of parents. That is already under way. It will be supported by the scoping exercise that is already under way and the forward planning unit that is now positioned within the Department. It will not be just one element that will inform how we will proceed. Rather, it will involve all stakeholders in the sector. They will be invited to share their thoughts and views on it and it will inform best practice on initiatives by the Department as we seek to achieve the €200 target, as outlined in the programme for Government.