2026-06-23

2. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality her plans to publish a detailed timeframe, including milestones and key performance indicators, for the provision of €200-per-month childcare, as set out in the commitments in the programme for Government. [47642/26]

Affordable, accessible childcare provision is vital for the proper functioning of our society and our economy. What plans does the Minister have to publish a detailed timeframe, including milestones and key performance indicators, for the provision of €200-per-month childcare, as set out in the commitments in the programme for Government?

I wish Deputy Ennis well in his new position as spokesperson for his party on all matters to do with children. I acknowledge his predecessor, Deputy Farrelly, who gave 110% to his spokesmanship. I wish him well in his new appointment. I think he is in transport now, is he?

Yes.

I wish him well regardless of where he has moved to. Anyway, I welcome Deputy Ennis. In relation to the question he has asked, I have always been clear in communicating that the €200-per-month programme for Government commitment is to be achieved over the lifetime of this Government. Shaping the Future: Early Years Action Plan, Phase 1 Report, published last December, sets out measures to achieve key programme for Government commitments on the affordability, quality and accessibility of early learning and care and school-age childcare. The action plan adopts a phased approach that enables action to be taken in 2026 while allowing adequate time for a broad public consultation and analysis on longer term actions. The consultation process has a number of channels designed to facilitate the participation of a wide range of stakeholders. It includes an online survey which has received more than 11,000 responses; 56 local consultation events right across the country; an art-based engagement exercise with children; and a national consultation event, which is scheduled to take place later in the year. Results of this consultation, and additional analysis, will inform phase 2 of the plan. Phase 2 will set out actions to be undertaken from 2027 right through to the end of 2029. The fee freeze and maximum fee caps required for core funding have been key to the progress in recent years in making ELC and SAC services more affordable. The 2026 actions on affordability will include further reduction in some of the highest fees paid by parents by lowering the maximum fees that core funding partner services can charge. In addition, from autumn 2026, we will reduce out-of-pocket costs for lower income families through the national childcare scheme.

In the lead-up to the last election, the Tánaiste promised to cap childcare fees at €200 per month, and that was to do with the early stage of the Government. His words were exactly these: I actually believe the cost bit we can deliver quite quickly. I believe it can be delivered in the early time of the government. Not the end. Last week, on a podcast, he said that we would not get there by the next budget, that that was never the commitment - again, his words - and that the commitment was over the lifetime of the Government, as the Minister mentioned. Once again the goalposts seem to have moved. Timelines seem to have moved. The targets are moving yet again. What commitment is this Government giving such that we will not see broken promises before an election again? Not only are we so far from the €200-per-month reduction that was promised again in the programme for Government; we are yet to see a clear roadmap on how this reduction will take place. Again, the same roadmap was promised by the Tánaiste. Goalposts are being moved. In his words again, it was to be within the Government's first 100 days. We are now 500 days into the lifetime of this Government. It is just not good enough or quick enough for families that are struggling.

In the interests of clarity, we must be clear that after any election there is a negotiation with various parties to make up a Government. As part of that, a programme for Government is written down and committed to. Those are the plans which will be committed to over the lifetime of the Government. I was involved in the writing of the programme for Government. When that was being done, the commitment was clear. This Government involves a number of parties and individuals. The programme for Government lays out that over the lifetime of the Government, the cap of €200 will be achieved. There is no deviation in that regard. There is no equivocation. It was made clear when the Government was formed. As already stated, there has been progress in terms of a reduction in costs for low-income families. The lower income threshold for the income-assessed subsidy has been increased from €26,000 to €34,000 in order to ensure that families with incomes below the relative poverty income line receive the maximum subsidy. There has also been an increase in the upper threshold.

I take on board what the Minister is saying. I do not hold out much hope. Time and again, the Government has treated childcare as an afterthought. As a father of two, this is something I live with every day. Childcare costs are crippling families. I knocked on close to 40,000 doors, and it came up quite a lot. We were not seeing it much in representations or emails, but it certainly came up in the one-to-one conversations. The Government has failed so many times in respect of this promise. We are talking about getting costs down. We are a long way from the €200 per month cap. The average cost of childcare is €850 per month. Ireland is an outlier in Europe. We are not moving quick enough with this. I hope to see this happening sharpish. Working with the Minister on the committee, we hope to do that. I do not hold out much hope, however. That was a promise before the election that I was hoping would be delivered for my family and many others. This problem is not just in Dublin Central, it is right across the country. Families are crippled.

I look forward to working with the Deputy at the committee. Just to be clear, 25% of families are already on the €50 per week or are paying less than that. I absolutely accept that there is much more work to do. In recent weeks, we have introduced the fee caps. The full cost for families availing of just less than 50 hours' service - this is the full day service that the vast majority of parents are availing of - is €198 per week. That is when the national childcare subsidy is included. That will now be reduced to €183 per week. We are seeing progress. I already mentioned something that has been fought very hard for by so many different people in terms of children at risk of disadvantage, namely that the thresholds have been increased from €26,000 to €34,000 and from €60,000 to €68,000 in order to maximise people's access to the national childcare subsidy. Some progress has been made. There is more progress to be made, and we will continue that through phase 2 of the action plan.