John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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2378. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the measures she will be undertaking to assist for childcare costs for working families; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42121/25]

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 the Government’s commitment to this area.

The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme, which provides two years of pre-school without charge, enjoys participation rates of 96%. 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 early learning and childcare. The Scheme is progressive in nature ensuring the highest levels of subsidies go to families that need them most.

The NCS has undergone a number of enhancements in recent years to further improve affordability for parents. These include the extension of the universal subsidy to all children under 15 and two increases to the minimum hourly subsidy, which is now worth a minimum of €96.30 per week for 45 hours.

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.

Children in childminding settings that have come forward for registration, following changes to the childminder Tusla registration requirements last September, can also benefit from NCS subsidies.

An evaluation of the NCS is due to start this year. This evaluation will review how the Scheme has performed to date and identify potential enhancements that could be made to further improve affordability for families.

Work is under way to develop an Action Plan to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early learning and childcare system, informed by stakeholder consultation. This will include future steps to reduce the cost of early learning and childcare further to €200 per month over the lifetime of the Government. Further supports will also be considered in the context of the development of the new First 5 Implementation Plan for 2026-2028. First 5 is Ireland’s Whole-of-Government Strategy for babies, young children and their families.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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2379. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the reduction in childcare fees there has been nationally; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42122/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Core Funding has seen consistent increased State investment to the sector year on year, and is set in year 4 to be worth over €390 million contingent on the establishment of new minimum rates of pay in the sector through updated Employment Regulation Orders. This is an increase of over 50% since the scheme began in September 2022 with an allocation of €259 million.

Last month, I announced the introduction of maximum fee caps for all Partner Services in Core Funding from September 2025. The fee freeze will remain in place for all Partner Services with fees below these caps. This is an important step towards the reduction of childcare fees to €200 per month over the lifetime of this Government.

Maximum fee caps were introduced for new services last year, and this September they will be extended to existing services also. Under these new fee caps, the fee for a full day place – of between 40-50 hours per week, the most common full day care operating hours – will be no more than €295 per week (before State subsidies under the National Childcare Scheme and the ECCE programme are deducted), the fee cap for 50+ hours of care is €354. All of the fee caps will reduce the highest fees at each fee band in the country. The majority of services are already charging far less than the new maximum fees. This is an important step towards the reduction of childcare fees to €200 per month over the lifetime of this Government.

This latest measure builds on a range of supports already in place.

The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme provides two years of pre-school without charge and has participation rates of 96%. Over 70% of families on low income report they could not send their child to pre-school without it.

The National Childcare Scheme (NCS) complements ECCE, giving universal and targeted subsidies to reduce costs to parents. Recent improvements include the extension of the universal subsidy to children under 15 and two increases to the minimum hourly subsidy, now worth €96.30 per week for 45 hours.

Almost 220,000 children benefited from a subsidy in 2024. Since last September, children in childminding settings can also benefit from National Childcare Scheme subsidies.

In addition, the fee management system introduced through Core Funding has made sure the investment in affordability is not absorbed by unnecessary fee increases. Core Funding has enjoyed high participation rates to date, with 92 per cent of services signed up to programme year 3.

Preparations for the first Estimates process for this Government are underway and I am committed to bringing forward proposals to make further progress in this area.

Work is also under way to develop an Action Plan to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early learning and childcare system, informed by stakeholder consultation. This will set out future steps to reduce the cost of childcare further to €200 per month.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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2380. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the changes she will make to the National Childcare Scheme; to detail these changes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42123/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The National Childcare Scheme (NCS) provides financial support to help parents to meet the cost of childcare and allow children to access Early Learning and School Age Childcare.

Significant investment has been made in the NCS in recent years with over €529m allocated in Budget 2025. This investment has allowed my Department to further improve affordability for parents through the Scheme. Enhancements have included the extension of the universal subsidy to all children under 15 years of age, and two increases to the minimum hourly subsidy, which is now worth a minimum of €96.30 per week for 45 hours.

In addition, since September 2024 childminders have been able to register with Tusla and take part in the National Childcare Scheme, and families who use childminders are therefore also now able to benefit from National Childcare Scheme subsidies.

An evaluation of the NCS is due to start this year. This evaluation will review how the Scheme has performed to date and identify potential enhancements that could be made to better support families. Any changes to the NCS will be informed by a thorough review of international literature and comprehensive stakeholder engagement.