My Department currently invests €638 million in early learning and childcare, with affordability for parents a key objective of this investment.
The major programmes funded by my Department that contribute to affordability include the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme and the National Childcare Scheme (NCS).
The ECCE Programme provides free access to early learning and childcare for 15 hours per week for the two years before children start primary school - significantly offsetting the cost of early learning and childcare to parents at this stage.
The NCS provides universal and income-assessed subsidies to parents.
A universal subsidy for children up to age three, and income-assessed subsidies for children up to age 15, are available for up to 45 hours per week.
In addition to investment by my Department, the State has, since the onset of Covid-19, delivered substantial supports to this sector. A key objective of this investment has been to ensure these services could operate safely and sustainably throughout the pandemic and that increased costs associated with public health requirements were not passed on to parents.
There is strong evidence these Covid-19 supports have been effective in achieving this objective, with recent data revealing no significant increase in parental fees since 2020.
Notwithstanding this, affordability remains a concern for many parents and a priority for me and this Government, as evidenced in the Programme for Government.
An Expert Group is in place to develop a new funding model for the sector and among the top priorities of that Group the identification of mechanisms to address affordability.
The report of the Expert Group is on track to be submitted to me in November.