Robert O'Donoghue (Dublin Fingal West, Labour)
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175. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if she will outline the Government's plan to introduce a maximum fee of €200 for early childhood and education places; how her Department intends to manage this fee reduction; and what measures will be in place to support providers to implement this while maintaining quality and ensuring affordability for parents. [14244/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Investment in early learning and childcare is now at unprecedented levels with public funding exceeding €1.37 billion in 2025, clearly demonstrating Government commitment to this area.

As well as addressing affordability this investment has served to improve accessibility, availability and the quality of provision.

A number of existing Schemes contribute to the goal of reducing the cost of childcare for families and the establishment of a €200 per month cap on childcare costs.

The ECCE Programme, which provides two years of pre-school without charge, enjoys participation rates of 96% each year. Over 70% of families on low income report that they would not be able to send their child to pre-school without this Programme.

The National Childcare Scheme (NCS) complements the ECCE Programme, providing subsidies – both universal and targeted - to reduce the costs to parents for children to participate in ELC and SAC.

The minimum NCS subsidy has steadily risen from €0.50 in 2022 to €2.14 per hour in September 2024 alongside extensions to eligibility. Additionally, families using a childminder can now avail of an NCS subsidy towards their childcare costs.

Record numbers of children and their families are now benefiting from the NCS. Almost 220,000 unique children benefited from an NCS subsidy in 2024.

The fee management system introduced through the Core Funding Scheme has ensured that the investment in affordability is not absorbed by uncapped fees. A cap on fees was introduced for services joining Core Funding for the first time in the third year. It was announced in June 2024 that a fee cap will apply to all services in Core Funding from September 2025.

The Core Funding Scheme also contributes to the quality of childcare provision in Ireland through grants for partner services to contribute to their operating costs. Partner services can chose how to spend their Core Funding grant provided the spending aligns with approved areas of expenditure such as staff pay. In line with Budget 2025, Core Funding will be worth approximately €390 million in year 4 of the scheme, contingent on updated Employment Regulation Orders.

The Government of Ireland is committed to continuing to improve affordability and reach the €200 per month cap within the lifetime of the Government. However, further progress on affordability cannot be made in isolation and must be integrated with our efforts to improve access, availability and quality.