FG pledges €3,500 per pre-school child

A ONCE-OFF €3,500 package available to every pre-school child in the country will form the centrepiece of Fine Gael’s policy paper on childcare, the Irish Examiner has learned.

The party will pledge €1,000 in cash to the parents of every child in the country in the year before they start primary school.

In addition, any parent who registers their child in a pre-school, child development or early education scheme in that year will also be entitled to a €2,500 ‘credit’ regardless of whether a parent is working or at home.