110,000 children get free childcare worth €4k

More than 110,000 children will be in receipt of free State-sponsored childcare by early next year as part of “radical” reforms introduced by Government last summer — saving each family an average of €4,000 on creche costs, writes Fiachra Ó Cionnaith.

Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone confirmed the situation as she revealed the number of families already accessing the free support has surged from 67,000 to 89,527 since changes which came into effect earlier this year.