Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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151. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the steps he is taking to ensure that childcare is affordable and accessible to all families; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47979/21]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Improving early learning and childcare affordability for parents is a key priority for me, along with increasing quality and accessibility for children and ensuring that providers can operate sustainably and that their employees can benefit from improved pay and conditions.

Early Learning and Childcare is a public good with benefits across society, as have become even more evident in the context of Covid-19.

My Department is investing €638 million this year in the sector, with affordability for parents as a key policy objective of this investment.

This is distinct from the additional investment, currently estimated at approximately €34 million per month, that early learning and childcare employers have been able to access through the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme without having to demonstrate the 30% reduction in income required by other employers. This has allowed services to operate sustainably within the context of public health guidance throughout a period of significant uncertainty.

In the context of Covid period, I note that there have not, on the whole, been significant fee increases to parents compared to average full-time fee increases of 3% per annum in the 2017-2019 period.

The major programmes funded by my Department that contribute to affordability and accessibility for parents include the Early Childhood Care and Education Programme, the Access and Inclusion Model and the National Childcare Scheme.

The universal Early Childhood Care and Educationpreschool programme provides for free access to early learning and childcare for 15 hours per week for the two years before children start primary school. This significantly offsets the costs to parents of early learning and childcare at this stage.

An estimated 95% children in the relevant age cohort participate in this programme.

The Access and Inclusion Modelprovides a range of both universal and targeted measures, to support children with disabilities to take part in the ECCE pre-school programme in mainstream settings, and to help make pre-school services more accessible and inclusive – benefiting all children in those services.

The National Childcare Schemeprovides universal and income-assessed subsidies to parents.

A universal subsidy for children up to three is available for up to 45 hours per week. An income-assessed subsidy is available for children of all ages for up to 45 hours per week, the level of which is determined by the family’s income. The NCS is designed to be highly inclusive and to meet the needs of those families who need it the most. The NCS is based on the principle of progressive universalism and has regard to the best interests of children.

The Programme for Government commits to an ambitious range of actions to develop the early learning and childcare sector including the implementation of the First 5 strategy, an action in which is to undertake an examination of the funding model for the sector and make recommendations for development. Other relevant commitments are to continue to invest in the National Childcare Scheme and to examine the approach of other European countries to set a cap on parental fees, irrespective of income.

The examination of the funding model is being led by an Expert Group. The terms of reference of the Group include to review the existing approach to funding in terms of its effectiveness in delivering on the policy objectives of quality, affordability, accessibility and contributing to addressing disadvantage; identify and consider options on how additional funding could be structured to deliver on policy objectives; and agree a proposed design for a new funding model.

The Expert Group is comprised of international and national figures who have significant experience of early learning and childcare quality, systems and funding and is independently chaired. The Group has undertaken an in-depth programme of research and analysis and engaged in an extensive and detailed stakeholder consultation process. The Group has commissioned a series of research reports examining Ireland’s approach to this sector in an international context including approaches to reducing costs to parents and mechanisms to control fees, all of which have been published.

The report of the Expert Group is currently being drafted and is on track to be submitted to me in November.