Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 31 May 2022
514. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the first year and full year cost of increasing the affordable childcare subsidy for children under three years of age by €1 per hour; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27917/22]
View answerThere are two types of subsidies available under the National Childcare Scheme (or the Affordable Childcare Scheme):
- Currently, universal subsidies are available to all families with children under 3 years old. They are also available to families with children over 3 years who have not yet qualified for the free preschool programme (ECCE). This subsidy is not means tested and provides 50c per hour towards the cost of a registered childcare place for a maximum of 45 hours per week.
- Income Assessed Subsidies are available to families with children aged between 24 weeks and 15 years. This subsidy is means tested and will be calculated based on your individual circumstances. The rate will vary depending on family income, child’s age and educational stage, and the number of children in the family. The maximum available income assessed subsidy dependent on the aforementioned conditions is €5.10 per hour or a maximum weekly subsidy of €229.50.
Budget 2022 announced a number of changes to the NCS which will be rolled out this year. The first change removes the practice of deducting hours spent in pre-school or school from the entitlement to NCS subsidised hours, benefiting an estimated 5,000 children from low income families. This came into effect on 2 May 2022. The second change will extend the NCS universal subsidy to all children under 15 from September 2022. Full year estimates of these changes have been factored into the costs below but the impact of these changes will not be fully known until Q4 2022.
The estimated costs based on the scenarios presented are derived from current levels of usage and expenditure adjusted for the Budget 22 changes. These individual estimates are based on no behavioural change and should be interpreted with caution. It should be noted that changes to subsidies may result in changes to patterns and levels of usage by families. These changes are likely to be more pronounced at higher rates of increase.
Based on the above, the following are the estimated costs, assuming that the minimum targeted subsidy is increased so as never to be below the universal subsidy:
- First year cost of approximately €6 million
- Full year cost of approximately €18.5 million.
