Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 October 2022
118. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will outline his intentions to provide further financial supports to parents to combat rising childcare costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50707/22]
View answerAs part of Budget 2023, I announced major reforms to the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) from January 2023, which will substantially improve the affordability of early learning and childcare for families.
Additional funding of €121 million has been allocated to the NCS from January 2023 so all families accessing registered early learning and childcare will receive a minimum hourly NCS subsidy of €1.40 off the cost of early learning and childcare. With the current minimum hourly NCS subsidy set at €0.50 per hour, the represents an additional €0.90 per hour off the cost of early learning and childcare. This translates to up to €63.00 off families weekly bill for early learning and childcare per child. With up to €22.50 currently available per week, this represents up to an additional €40.50 off weekly costs.
From 2nd of January 2023, any family who is not already at the maximum hourly subsidy under NCS (see Table) will see an increase in their subsidy. For those who receive a subsidy based on an income assessed subsidy, the amount of the increase will taper down as they approach the maximum hourly subsidy rate. The amount of increase individual families will see in their per hour subsidy, will differ widely depending on their current subsidy.
Table 1: Maximum Income Assessed Subsidy
|
Child’s age |
Per Hour |
|
24 weeks to 12 months |
€5.10 |
|
12 to 35 months |
€4.35 |
|
3 years or older and not yet in school |
€3.95 |
|
School age (or 6 years to 15 years) |
€3.75 |
In addition, on 15th September, I launched Together for Better, the new funding model for early learning and childcare. This new funding model will support delivery of early learning and childcare for the public good, for quality and affordability for children, parents and families.
Together for Better brings together three major elements, the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme, including the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM), the NCS and Core Funding.
Core Funding is the new funding stream in operation since 15 September 2022. A central condition of Core Funding is that providers agree not to increase fees above those which were charged last year. This gives parents greater certainty about what they will be charged and ensures that increases to NCS subsidies are not absorbed by fee increases. The approach to fee management will be developed further over time.
Participation in the Core Funding is optional and a list of participating services is available online here: first5fundingmodel.gov.ie/together-for-better/. To date, more than 91% of services are signed-up and thereby agreeing to operating the fee conditions. Parents should also be receiving a copy of their Partner Services fees policy outlined in the Parent Statement. I would encourage parents to contact their local City/County Childcare Committee for support and guidance. Contact information for City/County Childcare Committee is available here: myccc.ie/
