Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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74. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth regarding the gradual reduction of childcare costs as committed to in the programme for Government; the steps she has taken to progress this policy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32763/25]

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I am sure the Minister campaigned, as I did, on the issue of childcare during the election campaign. It has remained a live issue since. We are committed to reducing that cost gradually. It is a commitment in the programme for Government. Will the Minister update us on the progress on that policy?

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. Earlier this month, I announced the introduction of maximum fee caps for all partner services in core funding from September 2025. The fee freeze will remain in place for all partner services with fees below these caps. This is an important step towards the reduction of childcare fees to €200 per month over the lifetime of this Government.

Maximum fee caps were introduced for new services last year, and this September they will be extended to existing services. Under the new fee caps, the highest possible fees will be no more than €295 per week for a full day of 40 to 50 hours per week. Once the national childcare scheme subsidy is taken into account, the maximum fee for a parent in this situation will be less than €200 per week. This latest measure builds on a range of supports already in place.

The early childhood care and education, ECCE, programme provides two years of preschool without charge and has participation rates of 96%. The national childcare scheme complements ECCE, giving universal and targeted subsidies to reduce costs to parents. Recent improvements include the extension of the universal subsidy to children under 15 and two increases to the minimum hourly subsidy, now worth €96.30 per week for 45 hours. Almost 220,000 children benefited from a subsidy in 2024. Since last September, children in childminding settings can also benefit from national childcare scheme subsidies.

In addition, the fee management system introduced through core funding has made sure the investment in affordability is not absorbed by unnecessary fee increases. Core funding has enjoyed high participation rates to date, with 92% of services taking part. Preparations for the first Estimates process for this Government are under way and I am committed to bringing forward proposals to make further progress in this area. Work is also under way to develop an action plan to build an affordable, high-quality and accessible early learning and childcare system, informed by stakeholder consultation. This will set out future steps to reduce the cost of childcare further to €200 per month.

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for the update. I appreciate the progress that is being made on the fee caps. Is there a timeline for when we can achieve that? I know the commitment is within the lifetime of the Government, but the sooner we can do this the better.

As I am sure is the case for the Minister, parents contact me constantly to tell me they are being forced into making unpalatable financial decisions about work and what they do with their children. Many families cannot go to work because it is simply not financially viable for them to do so. We need to ensure that is never the case. These are important life decisions that people should be able to make freely. I know the Minister will agree with this.

If this is not done by the end of next year, for example, will we be in a position to report serious progress at that stage? Rather than waiting for the lifetime of the Government, can we do something more quickly to deliver for parents? Parents are crying out for our commitment to be delivered and we all know how important it is.

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I want to be clear. This is a commitment over the lifetime of the Government. The more quickly we take steps the better, and the more quickly we will be able to deliver.

In the fewer than five months during which the Government has been in office, we have taken the first very significant step regarding fee caps. We should not underestimate the significance of fee caps. Families who, prior to this, were paying €325 saw a reduction to €295, and with the subsidy they are now paying less than €200 per week. That is an example of the trajectory we wish to follow.

I also acknowledge that, while we were doing that for the significant number of people paying very high fees, the fee freeze remains in place for the others. There are a number of different streams. The objective is to ensure the costs for parents are affordable, there are sufficient places and staff in the sector are being remunerated appropriately.

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I acknowledge the progress that has been made and I do not want to belittle that progress. Fees of less than €200 per week are a significant step forward. I appreciate the budgetary commitment I hope we will see later this year in that regard to ensure we continue on that trajectory. I also acknowledge that it is a commitment over the lifetime of this Government, but I know the Minister will appreciate that, the sooner we can do it, the better for everybody involved.

The Minister mentioned sufficient places. That has to be the dual threat that comes with this. Can we put in place a policy to ensure childcare facilities are not closing down? A service in the Presbyterian church on York Road in Dún Laoghaire closed without explanation recently, which has caused massive upset for the parents involved.

I live in Honeypark in Dún Laoghaire, an area with a lot of young families. I note a site earmarked for a childcare facility has now been advertised for sale in the commercial property pages of The Irish Times. Are we ensuring there will be sufficient places, continued delivery of childcare facilities and places for the children who need them?

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I have always been very clear that this is like a triangle. There is no point in reducing fees if there are no places for children to attend, and there is no point in having children available and reduced fees if we do not have staff who will work in the sector. There are three elements to this.

On having sufficient places, I want to be clear. Sufficient funding has been provided by Government in terms of core funding. There has been an unprecedented level of investment by Government. There has been a net increase of 226 providers moving into this area. Notwithstanding that, we have to continue working the area.

The Government recently announced the building blocks scheme, which will provide an additional 1,500 places. Equally, there is a commitment from Government, through the forward planning unit, that where there is a lack of capacity being delivered in certain areas, we will move forward with a public model where that might be necessary.

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I note the 226 net increase, which is a significant figure and certainly to be praised. In the context of places like where I live in Dún Laoghaire, where the cost of property and rent is much higher, is the Department doing anything to specifically safeguard urban childcare environments where the living costs for people working in those centres might be higher? We know teachers are leaving the education sector because they cannot live in Dublin and are going elsewhere. The same is true of childcare facilities. Is the Minister aware of childcare facilities that are closing? Is her Department doing any analysis of why that might be?

Are steps being taken to safeguard the facilities against this happening? Appreciating the work that has been done, the unprecedented investment the Minister mentioned, the progress we have made and the progress we have yet to make, will the Minister assure parents in Dún Laoghaire, in Dublin and in Ireland that if their children are in childcare, those facilities will, to the greatest extent possible, continue to provide services? The Minister appreciates the need for sufficiency of service and the need to support these childcare providers.

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Obviously it is a core objective of the Government that we would maximise the number of providers in place. To do this we are lending support to private providers through schemes such as building blocks. We have also said we will step in where there is an absence of providers in an area. We are doing work on how this public model would look and what it would look like. Issues have been raised about the commitment in the planning guidelines to have places available for populations of 75 houses. Childcare facilities have been built which are not being used as childcare facilities. I am working with the Minister for housing to ensure there will be updated guidelines for planning in this respect. If a facility is built it needs to be used for the purpose for which it was built, in this instance for the provision of childcare. Significant work has been done to support smaller providers. Previously the lower base of funding they had was a guaranteed €8,500. The base income that is guaranteed has increased to €14,400. Quite a body of work is under way.