Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 7 July 2022
253. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if the income thresholds for the affordable childcare scheme will be reviewed given the rising cost of living being experienced by families at present; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36096/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra254. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he is reviewing the affordable childcare scheme ahead of Budget 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36097/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 253 and 254 together.
The National Childcare Scheme represents the first ever statutory entitlement to financial support for early learning and childcare.
The scheme is designed so that those on the lowest incomes receive the greatest support.
Where parents are not engaged in work or study, the NCS subsidises up to 20 hours per week. Where parents are engaged in work or study, the NCS subsidises up to 45 hours of per week.
A recent review of the NCS revealed that, as a proportion of total family early learning and childcare costs, 6% of families receiving NCS support reported that all early learning and childcare costs were covered by the NCS, while 38% reported that half or more of their costs were covered by the NCS.
Since the NCS review was undertaken, a further package of measures to directly address the costs of early learning and childcare was announced in Budget 2022, including:
- an extension of the NCS universal subsidy to all children under 15, benefitting up to 40,000 children from September this year.
- an end to the practice of deducting hours spent in pre-school or school from the entitlement to NCS subsidised hours from spring 2022, benefitting an estimated 5,000 children from low income families since 2 May.
- a new core funding scheme – worth €221m in a full year – to support:
- improved quality through better pay and conditions for the workforce by supporting agreement on an ERO through the JLC;
- the employment of graduate staff; and
- improved sustainability and stability for services.
The new core funding scheme aims to transform the sector to one that is increasingly publicly funded and publicly managed, delivering a service for the public good, through a partnership between the State and providers, to the benefit of children, parents, educators and practitioners, and society overall.
A new fee management system, attached to core funding, will mean no increase in fees from pre-pandemic levels for the September 2022 to August 2023 programme year, which, in tandem with developments to the NCS will together deliver significantly improved affordability for parents.
I have committed to building on this in Budget 2023 and I aim to prioritise a reduction in the cost of early learning and childcare for parents by increased investment in the NCS.
The potential models to give effect to such a reduction are currently under consideration in anticipation of Budget 2023. The National Childcare Scheme is specifically designed to allow for rapid changes to subsidies, income thresholds and certain other eligibility criteria as Government decisions are made and exchequer funding becomes available.
