Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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81. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the steps taken to reduce the cost of childcare to €200 per month, to date in 2025; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32101/25]

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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Ireland's best asset is our hard-working men and women. It is crucial that we fund childcare as an essential infrastructure. I know this is something we have talked about many times before. The Minister might give us an update on what she has done to reduce the cost of childcare to €200 per month and what she plans to do to make sure we achieve it over the lifetime of the Government.

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I appreciate the Deputy's ongoing engagement with me on this matter. She will be aware that 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 also. Under the new fee caps, the highest possible fees will be no more than €295 per week for a full-day place 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%. More than 70% of families say that if it was not a free service they would never have been able to access it.

The national childcare scheme, NCS, 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, 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.

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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I very much welcome the work that has been done to date. As I stated, I hope we deliver the reduction in childcare of the lifetime of this Government, as it is essential.

I also highlighted with the Minister that it is not just the cost that is an issue for many parents who are trying to access childcare; it is also the access to childcare. As she is aware, I live in the youngest area in the country. Many parents like myself in Balbriggan, Skerries, Rush and Lusk simply do not have access to the childcare they need. Demand far outstrips supply, which is why I very much welcome the establishment of the forward planning and delivery unit. The Minister might please give us an update on the progress of this unit and on when we will see high-pressure areas like my constituency of Dublin Fingal West start to see the benefits of the work of this unit, particularly in the delivery of more childcare places.

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy very much. I acknowledge that she has consistently raised the very specific challenges in her area. She is correct that the cost of childcare is one thing; the remuneration of staff is another element of it; and there is also the availability of places or access to places. In that respect, there are a number of different initiatives. We already discussed that two weeks ago when we announced the Building Blocks scheme, which was of benefit to some, although not all, and will deliver an additional 1,500 places. The forward planning unit is an important unit within the Department. Work is currently under way to specifically identify an absence of provision. Other Deputies have identified places in their constituencies where there is an absence of provision; in other words, where there is greater demand than the provision that is available. That work is under way. Its purpose is to identify the areas and then to provide a stream of funding for a public model, whereby the State will step in to buy or build new childcare facilities.

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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The Building Blocks scheme was welcome, but the eligibility criteria are limited and many private providers could not apply for it. The Minister might consider reopening the scheme and widening the eligibility criteria to enable private providers to apply. There are very few public childcare providers in Dublin Fingal West. I would love to see that being prioritised for delivery in the roll-out of the scheme. The Minister should please let me know if there is anything I can do to support it. I very much hope she gets the funding she needs in budget 2026.

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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I very much welcome the childcare supports and subsidies. It is critically important that we reduce the cost.

I also want to raise with the Minister a poll by Amárach Research in 2024, which found that 69% of mothers with children under the age of 18 would prefer to stay at home if they could afford it. In addition, 76% of mothers felt that their work in the home is undervalued compared to work in society. We know that women who stay at home to look after their children provide a very valuable service to their families, the community and the economy. Many mothers have children with disabilities and it is a necessity for them to provide additional care, particularly in light of the lack of services that are available from the State. What amount of the additional funding presided over by the Minister in recent years is going into supports for mothers and families on this aspect of childcare?

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Sinn Féin policy was to deliver childcare for €10 a day or €200 a month and then, lo and behold, just before the general election, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael said this was going to be their new policy as well and they would deliver it if re-elected. It has not been delivered. What is the timeline for the Government to deliver childcare for €10 a day or €200 a month? Will it be in this year's budget? Will it be in next year's budget? The Minister said she would phase it in. I am not sure whether she said it would be done over the lifetime of this Government or over a period of time. I am looking for clarity on that because, at the end of the day, commitments were given and they must be honoured.

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputies for their questions. On the last point, I have been very clear and the programme for Government is very clear: this will be delivered over the lifetime of this Government. It will be done in an incremental manner. One of the first key steps was taken just last week when we announced a fee cap would be put in place. We will build on that as we go forward.

Deputy Boland has engaged with me before about Building Blocks.

It is a scheme with existing criteria, which is absolutely delivering for some. I hear what the Deputy is saying on the flexibility going forward. There has to be a clawback as well for the State. If funding is being provided by State, there must be commitments given for the length of time that they will continue to work in the area of childcare. It is a fine line that we walk there.

On the points that have been raised on mothers working at home and in particular mothers, which is very pertinent to both the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, and myself, in the area of disability, there are specific funds relating to disability such as domiciliary care allowances. Fundings of that nature are made available. The key point is that even in childcare services there is a choice for people to avail of the service and that all are included in the service, including children with disabilities, whom the Deputy referenced. It is open to all.

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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What about the broader point of childcare? Are there any additional supports for those mothers?

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Specifically, that is a matter for the Department of Social Protection. I am speaking to our remit, which is childcare provision and care for disability.