Families facing costs of up to €1,138 for monthly childcare for just one child are getting a subsidy of €414 a month. This means they pay €724 a month after the subsidy is deducted.
The Government would have to reduce this family’s costs by another €524 to reach its target of cutting childcare costs for all families to €200 a month.
The family in this example has an income over €60,000 and this relates to a child aged one or two in childcare for 45 hours a week.
New official figures show the large gaps between providers’ fees and state subsidies for many families, despite the billions of euro of state funding already poured into the sector.
It comes as the Department of Children is expected to seek extra money in the Budget, as it pushes towards a commitment to cut costs. The pledge is to reach €200 per child per month over the lifetime of the Government.
The Department of Children data shows childcare costs are highest for parents who earn over €60,000 and therefore qualify for a basic subsidy.
However, some parents on incomes below €26,000 already have their childcare costs covered because their subsidies are higher, according to the figures.
A low-income family qualifies for a monthly subsidy of €841. This means they have no costs if they are paying the lowest reported fee of €645 a month, or the “median” fee of €817.
Their out-of-pocket costs after the subsidy would be €296 a month if their creche charged the highest €1,138 fee.
The €200-a-month plan is a centrepiece of the Programme for Government and featured heavily in party manifestos during the general election.
Children’s Minster Norma Foley. Photo: Collins
When asked if it believes the timeframe for the goal is achievable, a department spokeswoman said: “Government has committed to reducing the cost of childcare to €200 per child per month over its lifetime.”
She said the department is in the early scoping phase to develop an action plan that will outline the process and steps needed to reach this target.
When asked what the total reduction will cost, the spokesperson said costings will be examined in the context of the development of the action plan.
The figures were released as Children’s Minister Norma Foley recently described the target as “ambitious” in the Dáil.
“Importantly, we are committing to progressively reduce the cost of early learning and childcare to €200 per child over the lifetime of the Government,” she said.
The minister said officials are examining the commitment and exploring approaches to most effectively achieve this objective. An action plan is expected this year.
“I absolutely recognise that we need to go further to support parents, educators, practitioners and providers across the early learning and childcare sector, with the focus always on ensuring positive experiences for children,” she said.
She said there will a greater role for the State to provide childcare places in areas not fully covered by private providers.
The minister said the Programme for Government also commits for the first time to provide capital investment to build or buy state-owned facilities and create extra capacity.
She said state ownership of early learning and childcare facilities is a very substantial and significant shift in the policy direction that the department has pursued to date.
State funding for early years education and childcare has increased dramatically in an effort to make it more affordable for parents and to increase the number of places for children.
Providers have received financial support under a Core Funding scheme in return for freezes and caps on fees.
A department spokesperson said a cap on fees will apply to all services in the fourth year of Core Funding from September this year. The maximum allowable fees will be assessed annually.
“The fee management system introduced through Core Funding is ensuring that the investment in affordability is not unnecessarily absorbed by fees increases or uncapped fees,” the spokeswoman said.
She said a cap on fees introduced for services joining Core Funding for the first time last year will apply to all services from September, with the value of that cap to be announced shortly.
“The Programme for Government commits to continuing to improve affordability and reach the €200 per month cap within the lifetime of the Government,” she said.
She said the department is in the planning phase for this work, “including determining the scope of the action plan to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early learning and childcare system and the design of the consultation process that will underpin it”.
Fine Gael promised to cap the cost of childcare at €200 per child per month within its first year in government if re-elected.
#childcare #gap #huge #funds #needed #fulfil #Governments #promise #affordable #fees
