Written answers

Tuesday, 8 November 2016

Department of Children and Youth Affairs

Child Care Services Provision

Photo of Anne RabbitteAnne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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44. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the way in which a household's eligibility for the new targeted child care subsidy scheme will be determined; if it is intended that PPS numbers will be employed for this purpose; if she has had discussions with the Data Commissioner in this regard; and the expected administrative costs of the means-testing system. [33340/16]

Photo of Anne RabbitteAnne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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523. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the way a household's eligibility for the new targeted child care subsidy scheme will be determined; if PPS numbers will be employed for this purpose; if she has had any discussions with the Data Commissioner in this regard; and the expected administrative costs of the means-testing system. [33797/16]

Photo of Katherine ZapponeKatherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 44 and 523 together.

From September 2017, a new Affordable Childcare scheme will be introduced which will provide financial support for parents towards the cost of childcare. The new scheme will provide a system from which both universal and targeted subsidies can be provided towards the cost of childcare. This new scheme will replace the existing targeted childcare programmes with a single, streamlined and more user-friendly scheme and is intended to provide “wraparound‟ care for pre-school and school-age children.

The universal element of the Scheme will be available to all families with children between the age of 6 months and 36 months (or until the child qualifies for the free pre-school programme if later than 36 months), who are attending a registered childcare provider.

The targeted element of the scheme will be available to families with children between the age of 6 months and 15 years, with eligibility based on net parental income. For parents with net incomes up to €22,700 per annum, the maximum rate of childcare subsidy will be payable.

The rate of subsidy will taper downwards as net income rises, with no means-tested / income related subsidy payable when netincome reaches €47,500. The income thresholds increase where there is more than one child in a family, so a family with two children under 15 years of age would have a maximum net income threshold of €51,300 and a family with three children under 15 years would have a maximum netincome threshold of €55,100.

Budget 2017 has allocated funding for the development of an online IT application system that will allow parents to apply for subsidies online by entering their PPS number and other details such as their work or training status. In order to make the application process as easy as possible for parents, it is intended that the means-testing will, in most cases, be carried out through an automatic link with income data held by the Revenue Commissioners and by the Department of Social Protection. However, parents will be able to appeal decisions and/or request a manual means test by the delegated scheme administrator, which will require the submission of documentary evidence of income and relevant deductible expenses. The use of the PPS number and data sharing across public bodies and agencies will be enabled and supported through legislation and formal data sharing agreements.

The full year cost estimate for the new scheme is €150m which includes the current budget of €87m for the existing targeted childcare schemes. For 2017, the additional budget requirement (over and above the 2016 budget) is €19m. The cost estimates include the cost of administering the scheme, and the 2017 costs also include the once-off cost of developing the IT infrastructure to underpin the scheme. While it is intended that most income assessments will be automated, the administration costs include provision for resources to carry out manual assessments when requested.

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