Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 February 2015
357. Deputy Shane Ross asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs his views on the current cost of child care for families where both parents are working; his views on child care costs becoming tax deductible; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7714/15]
View answerI am aware of the relatively high cost to parents of child care in this country and of the difficulties that this presents, particularly where both parents are in employment outside of the home. To help address the issue of child care costs, in the region of €260 million is provided annually by my Department to support a number of child care programmes. More than 100,000 children benefit from this investment each year. These programmes are in addition to the support provided to all parents in the form of Child Benefit.
The programmes include the free preschool year provided under the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme. In the region of 68,000 children benefit each year from the programme at a cost of €2,375 per child. The Community Childcare Subvention (CCS) programme provides funding to community child care services to support disadvantaged or low income families. In the case of full day care, parents can have up to €95 per week deducted from the overall charge. In the region of 25,000 children each year benefit from the CCS programme. Further child care support is provided under a number of labour activation measures which support parents returning to the work force or availing of education or training opportunities. Increased capitation and subvention payments under the support programmes could reduce the cost to parents and I have indicated that if resources become available, I will review the scope for increasing the level of payments.
The question of tax allowances for working parents was considered prior to the introduction of the support programmes. A number of issues emerged at that time which did not favour the introduction of tax relief for child care. For example, the introduction of tax credits would not help to support quality improvements within the child care sector and would not help those families on low pay who may not have any tax liability. There is also concern that the application of tax credits could lead to increased prices and therefore have limited impact in terms of savings to parents.
I want to look at the question of appropriate supports for child care in a wider context. It is crucial that we develop a coherent whole-of-Government approach to investment in child care services. To ensure that all the benefits of our full range of child care investments are fully realised, future public investment in child care must be evidence-based and strategically coordinated. I have established an Inter-departmental Group to look at the provision right across the 0 to 6 age group as well as to consider the after-school needs of older school-going children. I have asked the Group to report to me by the Summer.
