Shane Moynihan (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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167. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality for an update on the measures being taken to reduce the administrative burden on childcare providers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28462/26]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Simplify and Support, the Action Plan for Simplification was published in December 2025, in line with the Programme for Government commitment to reduce the administrative burden on early learning and childcare providers.

Simplify and Support focuses on a vision to create an early learning and childcare sector where administrative and regulatory requirements are simple, transparent and proportionate - improving access to programmes and schemes for children and parents and enabling providers, early years educators and school-age practitioners to focus on delivering high-quality early learning and childcare - while ensuring the highest standards of child safety, high-quality experiences and accountability for Exchequer funding.

The Action Plan focuses on eight key objectives:

1. Simplify the programmes and schemes

2. Streamline and align regulatory and compliance requirements

3. Upgrade the digital system and improve user experience

4. Embed ‘Once-only’ data capture

5. Clear, consolidated, accessible guidance

6. Strengthen provider capacity and sector supports

7. Enhance coordination and alignment between agencies

8. Simplify processes and reduce administrative requirements on parents

Implementation of Simplify and Support is being led by the Department of Children, Disability, and Equality, supported by a Cross Sectoral Group providing oversight. The Cross Sectoral Group, which is current being convened, will establish a set of key performance indicators to measure the effectiveness of simplification efforts and will publish an annual report of progress.

Some key projects currently underway this year include:

• An independent review of financial compliance checks associated with programmes and schemes to identify opportunities for automation, rationalisation, elimination and/or standardisation;
• An independent review of options for a long-term digital system for early learning and childcare.
• The development of a single set of comprehensive regulations covering all centre-based services, replacing the existing early learning and care and school-age childcare regulations with a single combined set of regulations.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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168. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will take steps to lower the costs of childcare to affordable levels; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29192/26]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Shaping the Future: The Early Years Action Plan, Phase 1 report (published on the 17 of December 2025) sets out measures to achieve key Programme for Government commitments on the affordability, quality, and accessibility of early learning and care and school-age childcare. The Action Plan adopts a phased approach that enables action to be taken in 2026 while allowing adequate time for a broad public consultation and analysis on longer-term actions.

In September 2025, maximum fee caps were extended to all Partner Services in Core Funding. Budget 2026 also enables Core Funding to continue to support fee-control measures. It will ensure fees remain at 2021 levels for a majority of providers.

A central objective of Shaping the Future is to reduce parental fees to an upper limit of €200 per month over the lifetime of the Government. However, this objective cannot be achieved through the National Childcare Scheme alone. The fee-freeze and maximum fee-caps required for Core Funding have been key to the progress in recent years in making early learning and care (ELC) and school-age childcare (SAC) services more affordable.

The Phase 1 report of Shaping the Future sets out actions which will be carried out in 2026 using existing policy tools. 2026 actions on affordability will include further reduction in some of the highest fees paid by parents by lowering the maximum fees that Core Funding Partner Services can charge. In addition, from autumn 2026 we will reduce fees for lower-income families through the National Childcare Scheme.

Phase 1 of the Action Plan includes:

• An increase to the lower (base) income threshold of the income-assessed subsidy from €26,000 to €34,000, to ensure that families with incomes below the relative income poverty line receive the maximum subsidies.
• An increase to the upper income threshold (income limit) of the income-assessed subsidy from €60,000 to €68,000, to extend income-assessed subsidies to more families.
• An increase to the multiple child deduction (MCD) component of the income-assessed subsidy for families with two children under the age of 15 from €4,300 to €5,500, and for families with three or more children under the age of 15 from €8,600 to €11,000