Funding of more than a quarter of a billion euro is provided annually by my Department towards child care. All child care programmes supported by my Department currently provide funding directly to childcare providers, either in the form of capitation or subvention payments. This kind of funding mechanism provides the leverage to progressively build the quality of childcare provision, while at the same time making childcare more affordable.
To deliver the free pre-school year under the Early Childhood Care and Education programme, a standard capitation fee of €62.50 per week per eligible child is paid to participating services. To incentivise higher quality, a higher capitation fee of €73 per week is paid per eligible child to services with more highly qualified staff. Parents who qualify for support under this programme can have their annual childcare costs reduced by as much as €2,774 for each qualifying child.
The Community Childcare Subvention programme provides funding to community childcare services to support disadvantaged or low income families, and in the case of full day care, parents can have their weekly childcare costs reduced by up to €95 per week for each qualifying child.
Further childcare support is provided under a number of programmes which support parents returning to the workforce or availing of education or training opportunities. These include the Childcare Education and Training Supports programme for parents availing of training and education courses; Community Employment Childcare programme for parents in Community Employment schemes; and After-School Childcare programme for after-school care.
For these three programmes, the maximum contribution a parent makes to the cost of childcare is capped at €15 per week for part-time and after-school care and €25 per week in the case of full-day care.
Options for future investment in childcare are currently being considered by the Inter-Departmental Group on Future Investment in Early Years and After-School Care and Education, which I established in February this year. This Inter-Departmental Group, which is tasked with setting out a range of options for current and future investment, is considering options to enhance affordability, options to increase the accessibility of provision and options to build the quality of provision and support the sustainability of the early years sector.
The work of the Group is framed by research and evidence of best practice (both national and international) and by existing policy commitments, including those set out in Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures, the National Policy Framework for Children and Young People. The Group has solicited the views of key stakeholders, interested parties and the general public through a number of consultative processes. It will submit a series of recommendations to Government shortly.
