Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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103. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if he will consider introducing a subsidy to cover transport costs which was provided for childcare services to collect children as per the previous schemes. [40722/20]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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My Department has, in the past, provided limited subsidies to cover part of the cost of transport from school to after school childcare. These subsidies were available to qualifying children on the Training and Employment Childcare (TEC) programme.

The TEC programme closed to new applicants in February 2020. Children receiving subsidies under the TEC programme may remain on TEC until their eligibility expires.

TEC and other legacy childcare support programme has been replaced by the National Childcare Scheme, NCS. All new subsidised childcare is now provided under the NCS.

The NCS provides a comprehensive and progressive system of universal and income-based subsidies, which are based on the income of the child's parents or guardians. The NCS does not include a subsidy for transport to or from a childcare service.