Minister for Children announces new subsidy rates for childcare

The Minister for Children has announced new subsidy rates under the National Childcare Scheme.

Roderic O’Gorman has confirmed that, from next week, some parents using full-time childcare will see their fees lowered by €1,731 per year, equivalent to €33 a week.

From next Monday, the minimum hourly subsidy under the scheme for children under 15 will increase by more than 50%, meaning that it will rise from €1.40 to €2.14. Families using Tusla-registered early learning and childcare will see their cost reduced by up to €96.30 per child per week.

Furthermore, from this September, a fee cap will be introduced, ensuring that the maximum fee for full-time childcare — up to 50 hours per week — can be no more than €390 a week.

To begin with, the fee cap will only apply to new services joining Core Funding. However, it will then be expanded to all services in September of next year.

The Minister has stated that these new rates will help thousands of families across the country to access early learning and childcare at more affordable levels. He also noted that the average parent with a child who attends childcare 45 hours per week will see a 50% decrease in their costs over the next two years.

Speaking about the issue, Minister O’Gorman explained: “We know most childcare services operate their fees within a range and there are a few very far below that range which causes sustainability difficulties for those services.”

He has also called for continued improvement in the wages and salaries for childcare professionals, arguing that they are “underpaid for the important work they do”.