Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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265. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the position regarding the 9,000 families (details supplied) that are to benefit from more affordable child care; the income bracket those 9,000 families are in; the net incomes they would need to be on to qualify for up to €12 a week when the online system is available; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21199/17]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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The take-up of childcare subsidies depends not just on eligibility, but on parental demand for childcare, and on the availability of childcare places in local childcare facilities that are taking part in the relevant subsidy scheme.

Differences between the expected take-up of CCS and TEC subsidies this September and the expected initial take-up in the first year of the Affordable Childcare Scheme partly reflect differences between the schemes in eligibility rules. Eligibility for CCS and TEC depends on receipt of a range of social welfare payments, possession of a Medical Card or GP Visit Card, or participation in one of a range of education or training courses, or labour market activation schemes. Eligibility for targeted elements of the Affordable Childcare Scheme, in contrast, will depend on a family’s income-level. While the income thresholds for the Affordable Childcare Scheme and the planned changes to CCS for September have been designed to ensure a high degree of continuity for families between subsidies available this September and subsequent subsidies under the Affordable Childcare Scheme, it is inevitable that there will be some differences given the change in eligibility rules.

Given expected parental demand and expected take-up by providers, it is estimated that up to 70,000 children and their families will benefit from childcare subsidies from this September, through either the CCS or TEC programmes.

Given expected parental demand and expected take-up by providers, it is estimated that approximately 79,000 children and their families will benefit from the Affordable Childcare Scheme during its first year of operation.

The estimated difference of 9,000 is partly accounted for by children aged 3 and older whose family incomes are above the threshold for a GP Visit Card but below the threshold for the Affordable Childcare Scheme. These families typically have net incomes close to the maximum income threshold for the Affordable Childcare Scheme, and the level of subsidy payable to these families under the Affordable Childcare Scheme would therefore be low. To qualify for the targeted element of the Affordable Childcare Scheme, when it becomes available, families will have to have a net family income of less than €47,500.

The difference is also partly accounted for by children aged 3 and older whose parents may be eligible for a GP Visit Card – or other eligibility criterion for CCS – but have not taken it up. A communications initiative over the coming months will aim to minimise the number of families in the latter group, through increasing awareness among parents of their potential eligibility for CCS subsidies.