Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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82. To ask the Minister for Finance the tax relief and allowances in place for persons employing au pairs given that the contracts are deemed to be normal contracts of employment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12486/16]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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There are no specific tax reliefs or allowances provided for in the Taxes Acts with respect to the employment of au pairs. 

The Deputy may be concerned with regard to the obligations of parents employing au pairs to register as an employer and deduct PAYE, USC and PRSI from payments to such au pairs. 

In this respect, under regulation 9 of the Income Tax (Employments) (Consolidated) Regulations 2001 (S.I. No. 559 of 2001), where such payments are less than €40 per week, and the employer has only one such employee, the parents need not register as an employer and there is no obligation to deduct PAYE, USC and PRSI from any payments.

However, where the payments total €40 or more per week, or there is more than one such employee, then the employer has an obligation to register for PAYE purposes with the Revenue Commissioners and, where appropriate, deduct tax, USC and PRSI from any payments made to any such employee and remit such deductions to Revenue.

With regard to supports for childcare, the Deputy will be aware that the Early Childhood Care and Education Programme, under the aegis of my colleague, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Dr. Katherine Zappone T.D., provides a free pre-school programme for children. This programme was extended in Budget 2016 to apply to children from the age of 3. In addition to the learning and development opportunities for the children, this scheme also reduces childcare costs for parents.

The Programme for Partnership Government also contains a number of measures aimed to support parents and children. These include supporting the introduction of a robust model for subsidised high quality childcare for children aged 9-36 months in order for children and families to truly reap the benefits of greater investment, in line with the OECD recommendation that the best way to achieve affordability and quality at the same time is through subsidised childcare places.

The Government is committed to developing targeted supports to reduce childcare costs, broaden parental choice and increase supports for stay-at-home parents.