Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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555. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the estimated average cost, per month, of full-day childcare, broken down by county, and the average cost nationally, for the most recently available time period, in tabular form. [27549/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Fee data is provided weekly and the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) awards are made on a weekly basis, therefore information below has also been provided on a weekly basis.

The NCS provides subsidies to families to help reduce their early learning and childcare costs. Two types of subsidies are available for children aged between 24 weeks and 15 years:

• A universal subsidy which is not means tested and provides €2.14 per hour, for a maximum of 45 weekly hours. A family using 45 hours of care a week who are in receipt of the universal subsidy would receive € 96.30 off their weekly childcare fee.
• An income-assessed subsidy which may result in a higher hourly rate depending on factors such as the family income, child age and number of children in the family. Depending on these factors, rates may be awarded up to €5.10 per hour.