Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 7 October 2020
181. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality and Integration the number of children for whom the basic €20 per week is paid; and the number for whom enhanced payments are made. [29169/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe National Childcare Scheme incorporates two kinds of subsidy towards the cost of quality of childcare.
The universal subsidy is available to all parents of children aged between 24 weeks and 36 months (or until the child qualifies for the Early Childhood Care and Education programme if later). The universal subsidy is set at a rate of €0.50 per hour and is available for up to 45 hours per week. The universal subsidy is based on the child’s age, and not on income. Parents do not have to undergo an assessment of income to avail of this subsidy, therefore data is not available on the income levels of parents availing of the universal subsidy. This is also true of sponsored children.
For income-assessed awards, the highest levels of subsidy will go to families at or below the minimum reckonable income threshold of €26,000, with the level of subsidy tapering down smoothly as income rises towards the maximum net income threshold of €60,000.
When a subsidy award is made under the National Childcare Scheme, a ‘CHICK’ number is generated for that award. Since the launch of the Scheme in November last year, over 65,600 CHICKs have been generated from completed or renewed applications. Of these, 44,047 relate to income assessed awards, and 20,864 relate to universal awards.
There are nearly 32,000 CHICKs which have submitted a NCS claim for the past week. Of these, 23,088 are income assessed awards, and 8,488 are universal awards.
These figures were provided on 5 October 2020.
