Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 28 September 2016
260. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the rationale behind the restriction that parents cannot avail of the early childhood care and education scheme and a CCS fee reduction at the same time; and her views that this discriminates against low income parents who use the CCS scheme for full-time child care. [27600/16]
View answerThe rule whereby parents could not avail of the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme and the Community Childcare Subvention (CCS) programme at the same time was introduced to make sure that as many families as possible could benefit from finite resources. The rule enabled more parents to avail of some level of subsidisation at a time when the funding available for such schemes was limited. Currently, parents can choose which programme would be most advantageous to them in terms of cost.
It is intended that the introduction of the Single Affordable Childcare Scheme will resolve this restriction. The proposed Single Affordable Childcare Scheme will not replace, or incorporate, ECCE. The ECCE programme will remain in place on a universal basis, i.e. available to all children who qualify on age grounds. However, it is intended that the new Single Affordable Childcare Scheme will 'wraparound' the ECCE programme so that the two schemes align seamlessly to support access to early childhood care and education. The two schemes will not be mutually exclusive, in that it will be possible for a child to be simultaneously supported via the ECCE programme and the proposed Single Affordable Scheme, once they meet the qualifying criteria for each.
Government will shortly consider when it may be possible to introduce the new scheme. Introduction in September 2017 is the current objective of the DCYA.
