New childcare subsidies may save families up to €1.7k per year from next week
Roderic O’Gorman, the minister for children, announced the new subsidy rates under the National Childcare Scheme on Thursday
Some parents using full-time childcare will see their fees reduced by €1,731 per year, or €33 a week, as new subsidies are introduced next week.
Roderic O’Gorman, the minister for children, announced the new subsidy rates under the National Childcare Scheme on Thursday, saying it would assist thousands of families across the country to avail of early learning and childcare at more affordable levels.
According to Mr O’Gorman, the latest increase will mean the average parent with a child attending childcare 45 hours per week will see a 50% reduction in costs over the course of two years.
• From next Monday, the minimum hourly subsidy under the scheme for children under 15 will increase by more than 50% — from €1.40 to €2.14.
• Those using Tusla-registered early learning and childcare will see cost reductions of up to €96.30 per child per week.
• Also, starting in September of this year, will be the introduction of a fee cap with the maximum fee for full-time childcare — up to 50 hours per week — capped at €390 a week.
This cap will initially only apply to new services joining Core Funding and this will be expanded to all services in September 2025.
It will require those participating services charging high fees to bring those down while some who are far below the cap will raise their fees.
A fee freeze was introduced in 2022, keeping service at September 2021 levels. Some services had recently raised fees while others had not done so in some time creating a disparity that the new maximum and minimum range will seek to dispel. Mr O’Gorman said:
To date, 120 applications have been made to seek permission to increase their fees with the first decisions on these due next week.
Providers will need to demonstrate the need for a fee increase. Any approved increase will not go above the increased universal National Childcare Scheme subsidy that parents would be receiving for the full hours offered within the fee.
According to recent data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, a couple on the average wage were spending 27% of their household income on full-time early learning and childcare in 2022. This figure fell to 17% in 2023.
Those earning the minimum wage reported spending 24% of their income on early learning and childcare in 2022 and saw this reduced to 12% in 2023.
Mr O’Gorman said that, over the next five years, there should be a legal right to two years of the Early Childhood Care and Education Programme for all children to ensure they all have the opportunity to avail of those two years of preschool.
He also called for continued investment in the wages and salaries for childcare professionals, saying that despite recent measures they are “underpaid for the important work they do”.
