Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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200. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the work her Department is undertaking to deliver accessible and affordable community childcare for families living in north County Dublin; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28422/26]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Phase 1 report of Shaping the Future: the Early Years Action Plan was published on 17 December. The report sets out the next steps in the delivery of the key commitments in the Programme for Government to improve affordability, quality, and access. The report focuses on short-term actions to be undertaken in 2026 within the budgetary resources available for the year.

In line with the Programme for Government commitment, a broad public consultation process is currently underway. Results of this consultation, as well as additional analysis, will inform Phase 2 of the Action Plan. Phase 2 actions will be published at the end of 2026 and will be undertaken from 2027 through to the end of 2029.

Core Funding is a grant designed to improve affordability and accessibility for families. Core Funding will increase to over €480 million in the next programme year, starting in September. This is a 23% increase on the current programme year. This will support a 4.2% increase in growth in the sector in year five of the scheme. This growth increase will be driven both by new services joining the sector and existing services offering more places and/or longer hours to families.

When contracting to Core Funding, service providers agree to abide by the Scheme’s fee management system, which includes a fee freeze at September 2021 levels and maximum fee caps.

€20.6 million in brand new full-year funding was secured in Budget 2026 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.

Funding of €135 million is being made available between 2026 and 2030 for the capital programme for State-led early learning and childcare services. The process will begin in 2026 with the acquisition of buildings in what will be a ground-breaking initiative for the Department. Local City and County Childcare Committees (CCCs) are supporting the development of projects in the State-led early learning and childcare programme and interested parties who might have a suitable premises or project, including in north County Dublin, should contact their local CCC.

The National Childcare Scheme (NCS) provides both universal and income-assessed subsidies to help improve affordability for parents in meeting the cost of early learning and childcare. For children aged between 24 weeks and 15 years, a minimum subsidy rate of €2.14 per hour is available for up to 45 weekly hours.

As committed to in Shaping the Future: the Early Years Action Plan, Phase 1 Report, the income-assessed thresholds for the NCS will increase. This is expected to improve the affordability of childcare for up to 47,000 children from lower income families. This investment will support lower income households to access higher subsidies to offset the cost of early learning and childcare.

The lower income assessed threshold will increase from €26,000 to €34,000. While the higher income assessed threshold will increase from €60,000 to €68,000. The Multiple Child Discount will also be increasing to €5,500 for a family with two children or €11,000 for a family with three, or more, children.

Through increasing the NCS income-assessed thresholds, families whose reckonable income falls within the new thresholds may qualify for a higher subsidy, as they will move to a higher income-assessed rate, according to their individual circumstances. Increasing the Multiple Child Discount will further reduce the reckonable income for families with two or more children, enabling them to receive a higher subsidy and thereby reducing the cumulative burden of cost.

From 31 August 2026, most families currently receiving an income-assessed subsidy will see an increase in their rate, due to these changes. This investment will also support additional families to move from their existing universal rate to an income-assessed subsidy where it may be of more benefit.