Government deny dragging their feet on childcare reform 

However, minister Norma Foley, in response to Labour TD Mark Wall, said that the establishment of an agency tasked with reforming the sector would not happen this year, writes Paul Hosford.

The Programme for Government commits to growing State involvement and investment in the sector as well as gradually bringing fees down to €200 a month over the lifetime of the Government

The Government has denied dragging its feet on childcare reform after confirmation that planning for a national agency in the area will not be complete until next year at the earliest.

The Programme for Government commits to growing State involvement and investment in the sector as well as gradually bringing fees down to €200 a month over the lifetime of the Government.

However, in a response to Labour TD Mark Wall, children's minister Norma Foley said that the establishment of an agency tasked with reforming the sector would not happen this year.

Ms Foley said in her response that there had been extensive stakeholder engagements in the last government with the sector and that the "second phase of the project relates to a more in-depth design and costing exercise to take place from late 2025 and is scheduled to take an estimated six to nine months".

 Minister for Children, Disability and Equality Norma Foley has denied that the Government is dragging its feet on childcare reform.  Picture: Leah Farrell/© RollingNews.ie

"The work will culminate in a costed agency design, including the remit, organisational structure and service delivery model, which will be presented to Government for approval," she said.

Long finger

Mr Wall said that the response was proof that a public model was being "put on the long finger".

“Once again, this Government is showing its lack of ambition when it comes to childcare. We now know that it could be 2026 before we see the report into the National Agency for Childcare. This is a key building block towards a public model and that simply isn’t good enough.

“There is no doubt that we need to get the framework right for how a National Agency would operate — that’s a given. But this work has been ongoing since the end of 2023. It cannot and should not take this long."

Mr Wall said that Ms Foley should publish a timeline by which a public model will be introduced.

However, government sources said that the stakeholder engagement was "the only way to do something like this", saying that any attempts to rush it would risk "getting the model wrong".

The Labour Party's Mark Wall said that the minister's response was proof that a public model was being 'put on the long finger'.

Commitments

A source also pointed to comments by Tánaiste Simon Harris to The Irish Examiner in February, where he said that costs would be addressed in this year's budget.

Mr Harris told this paper in February that the €200 per month amount is "one of the few specific monetary commitments in the program for government".

"We took a decision to specifically state €200 per month in the program for government, and I say that to parents by way of showing that this is a real signal of our intent," the Tánaiste said.

"We will have a budgetary process. But what I can say as the leader of Fine Gael is that making real progress on the cost of childcare is an absolute priority for me. "

The previous government had introduced cuts to childcare costs through expansion of the National Childcare Subsidy (NCS) in 2022 and 2024. However, the Department of Children has recently authorised over 1,100 providers to increase fees starting last month, largely negating the 2024 subsidy increase in many cases. Earlier this year, Dublin Chamber of Commerce’s Business Outlook Survey showed that nine out of 10 businesses reported childcare being an issue when it comes to attracting or retaining staff.