Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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196. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if childcare costs will be reduced in light of the worsening cost of living crisis; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29067/26]

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. One of the central objectives of Shaping the Future is to reduce parental fees to a maximum of €200 per month over the lifetime of the Government.

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 line with the Programme for Government commitment, a broad public consultation process is currently underway. An online survey has been completed, with more than 11,000 responses. Phase 2 actions will be published later in 2026 and will be undertaken from 2027 through to the end of 2029. Phase 2 actions will include a roadmap to reduce parental fees to a maximum of €200 per month over the lifetime of the Government.

Core Funding, the supply-side payment to providers, requires that participating services abide by a system of fee management in return for the significant State funding available through the Scheme. This includes a freeze on fees at September 2021 levels and maximum fee caps.

Additional funding secured through Budget 2026 will see the allocation for Core Funding in the next programme year, which begins in September 2026, increase to over €480 million. That is an additional €87.6 million on the current full year allocation, or a 22% increase.

Within this, €20.6 million in brand new full-year funding was secured to support providers in adhering to Core Funding fee management conditions, including further reductions in the maximum fee caps in the fifth year of the Scheme. This will guarantee that Core Funding’s monetary protections will continue to be passed on to families while ensuring sustainability and stability for the sector.

The National Childcare Scheme (NCS) provides financial support to help parents reduce the cost of early learning and childcare. Subsidies are available for children aged between 24 weeks and 15 years of age. The minimum rate available is €2.14 per hour, which is available for up to 45 weekly hours.

Additionally, as set out in the Action Plan, further enhancements to the NCS income-assessed subsidy will be introduced in September 2026. These include increasing the lower income threshold from €26,000 to €34,000 and the upper threshold from €60,000 to €68,000, improving affordability for up to 47,000 children from lower-income families. Another enhancement will include an increase to the multiple child discount for parents with two children under the age of 15, rising from €4,300 to €5,500, and for parents with three or more children, rising from €8,600 to €11,000.