Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 December 2023
117. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will consider increasing the NCS subsidy for after-school care to correct the anomaly whereby some parents are paying more for part-time care than they were for full-time care due to the difference in the subsidy rate. [55841/23]
View answerThe National Childcare Scheme (NCS) is a subsidy provided to help parents to meet the cost of childcare and allow children to access Early Learning and School Age Childcare.
It is not clear what potential anomaly would give rise to the situation described.
The rate of subsidy for families availing of the NCS depends on a number of factors including the level of family income, the child's age, educational stage and the number of children in the family. There is a small decrease in hourly subsidy from ECCE education stage to the school education stage (20c per hour maximum). However the level of childcare usage will also fall and cost of that delivery will also be lesser which informs the levels of subsidy available.
A change in costs of the nature described may have arisen from the manner in which the provider has chosen to structure their fees. As the Deputy may be aware, providers of ELC and SAC are private businesses. Whilst there are certain fee increase conditions for providers under core funding arrangements, the State does not set childcare fees as this is a local arrangement between parents and providers.
The parent should be advised to contact their local CCC who may be able to provide guidance. Contact details are available at: www.myccc.ie
