Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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267. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the maximum hourly and weekly child care subsidy that will be paid for a child aged 18 months, assuming the lowest possible gross and net family income under existing child care schemes in September 2017; the maximum subsidy such a child or similar child will receive when the affordable child care scheme is introduced, or would have received if the affordable child care scheme had been introduced in September 2017 in accordance with details published in October 2016; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21209/17]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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Owing to the rescheduling of the delivery of the Affordable Childcare Scheme (ACS), it has become necessary to continue with the existing CCS/P programme into 2017/2018. In an effort to ensure that available funding is utilised to advance my Department's policy objectives, there are modifications to the existing CCS/P programme. Existing band rate subvention under the current CCS/P programme will be adjusted and new bands created to align more closely with the ACS. There will be a universal entitlement to subvention towards childcare costs, for children up to 3 years old or qualification to commence the free ECCE programme, at a rate of up to a maximum of €20 per week with effect from September 2017. This subvention is aligned with the rates proposed under the ACS. The CCS/P caters for children in the age range of 0-15 years. From September 2017, the maximum childcare subsidy available to parents who qualify for CCS/P will be €145 per week, which will be paid pro-rata based on child’s level of attendance (full-time, part-time, sessional, or half-sessional).

Unlike the ACS, the Community Childcare Subvention (CCS) and the Training and Employment Childcare (TEC) programmes, which are the childcare schemes that will be in operation in September 2017, calculate subsidies on a weekly rather than an hourly basis. Also, unlike the ACS, the existing schemes do not vary subsidy rates by the age of the child; the same subsidy applies whether a child is 18 months or 8 years old.

The maximum subsidy in September will be €145 per week under both the CCS and TEC programmes, eligibility for which is based not on family income but on other specified criteria (e.g. receipt of relevant social welfare payments and possession of a Medical Card). This highest level of weekly subsidy will be available for full-time childcare, which under the current schemes is defined as childcare for more than 5 hours per day.

When the ACS is introduced, the maximum subsidy that an 18 month old will be able to receive will be €4.37 per hour, for up to a maximum of 40 hours per week.

For a family that benefits from this maximum hourly subsidy rate and uses the full 40 hours of childcare per week, the ACS will provide a subsidy of €175 per week.

For a family that benefits from this maximum hourly subsidy and uses 6 hours of childcare per day (which counts as full-time under the existing schemes), i.e. 30 hours per week, the ACS will provide a subsidy of €131 per week.

So, while some 18-month olds in full-time childcare will be slightly better off when the ACS is introduced, some will be slightly worse off. The maximum subsidy rate set for this September (€145), which is 53% higher than the current maximum subsidy rate under CCS (€95), necessarily is a compromise subsidy rate, reflecting the fact that the existing childcare schemes offer less scope for variation in subsidy rates than will be possible when the ACS is introduced.

Similarly, as the existing childcare schemes do not vary subsidy rates by the age of the child, the increased subsidy rates being introduced this September necessarily reflect a compromise between the subsidy rates for older children and for younger children that the ACS will provide. For example, for a child using 7 hours childcare per day, or 35 hours per week, the maximum subsidy this September will be €145 per week, regardless of the age of the child. When the ACS is introduced, the maximum subsidy for 35 hours per week will range from €132 per week for a school-aged child (for out-of-term-time care) to €179 per week for a child between the ages of 6 and 12 months old.