William Aird (Laois, Fine Gael)
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877. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality her plans and the timeframe for achieving a reduction in the average net cost of childcare to €200 per month per child under the national childcare scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [61516/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I have committed to reduce monthly fees to €200 over the lifetime of the Government. The steps in achieving this ambition over the coming years will be set out in the Action Plan on Accessible, High Quality, Affordable Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare, which the Department is continuing to develop. In line with the commitment in the Programme for Government, the Action Plan will be informed by a broad consultation process.

This Action Plan will build on significant progress in affordability that has already been made through a number of existing Schemes.

The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme, which provides two years of preschool 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 preschool 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 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 €96.20 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 Tulsa registration requirements last September, can also benefit from NCS subsidies.

An evaluation of the National Childcare Scheme 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. The findings from this evaluation will inform the work of the Department in reaching the cap of €200 per month per child within the lifetime of the Government.

While work on developing the Action Plan is ongoing, we are not waiting until its publication to deliver on key commitments in the Programme for Government. Budget 2026 enables Core Funding to continue to support fee-control measures and will also allow for growth in the sector. The allocation for Core Funding in 2026 will ensure fees remain at 2021 levels for a majority of providers. As well as this, there will be a new maximum fee cap set to reduce costs for families paying the highest fees across the country. Further details of the new, lower maximum fee caps will be announced in the coming months.

The 2026 allocation for Core Funding will also support implementation of the recently announced Employment Regulation Orders, which led to a 10% increase in the minimum rate of pay for educators from 13 October.

Further steps will be detailed in the Action Plan, which will look at affordability, access and quality of the early learning and care and school-age childcare system.

William Aird (Laois, Fine Gael)
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878. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the specific measures which will be introduced in the next twelve months to reduce childcare costs for families; the way in which he will ensure the quality of the sector is maintained while cost pressures ease for parents; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [61517/25]