Budget 2027: Cap on childcare fees will not apply to facilities outside of Core Funding model

The cap is a cornerstone of the Government's budget, with public expenditure minister Jack Chambers saying in his speech that he was "reducing the maximum childcare fees paid by parents, from €735 to €550 per month for children up to senior infants". File picture

A cap on childcare fees of €550 from next year will not apply to children whose facility is outside of the Government's Core Funding model.

Nor will the figure apply to children who are currently in schemes on 50-hour a week programmes.

The cap is a cornerstone of the Government's budget, with public expenditure minister Jack Chambers saying in his speech that he was "reducing the maximum childcare fees paid by parents, from €735 to €550 per month for children up to senior infants".

However, at her post-budget press conference, children's minister Norma Foley confirmed that some parents will pay more.

"In terms of the €550, those figures relate to parents who are paying the highest fees at this point. As a matter of fact, what they are actually paying is €735 at this point in time for the very highest fees for those that their provider is in Core Funding. 

"And because we have got such a significant uplift €170m additional in core funding, a 35% increase, we are in a position for the children who are in early years, right up to junior and senior infants, to ensure that those highest fees will be reduced to €550 come next September."

Ms Foley said that the Core Funding model remains open and that she would "encourage" providers who are "very, very welcome to come in and they can come in at any point and I think parents would be very encouraging of their provider to come into the core funding model as well".

Ms Foley also said that the delay in bringing in the support was because her department's year follows the academic year and that the money made available was part of her negotiations with Mr Chambers.

"If I could bring it into our morning, I would be delighted to do that. That was part of the negotiation, part of the package, and given that we are very much early years education as well, we are currently slotted in there. But that was part of the package that we got."

Mr Chambers, however, denied that he had blocked Ms Foley from moving immediately.

"We were able to set out today is a multi-year path of delivering affordable childcare. We have to do that in the context of an expenditure trajectory which is narrowing. And if you ask every government minister, I'm sure the proposals they brought to me, which far exceeded what we agreed collectively as a government was possible, but we did decide to prioritise the affordability of childcare and a route to a much more affordable system of childcare."

• Paul Hosford is Deputy Political Editor.