Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 December 2025
11. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the steps her Department is taking to address the ongoing lack of affordable early learning and childcare places, particularly for working families; whether she has assessed the impact of rising childcare costs on parents’ ability to remain in employment, including in areas such as Dublin Bay North; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [73237/25]
View answerEarly learning and childcare capacity is increasing. Data from the Annual Early Years Sector Profile shows that the estimated number of enrolments increased by approximately 19% between 2022 and 2024. In Dublin City, there has been an increase of 22% in the numbers of children enrolled during this period demonstrating the substantial increase in the numbers of children benefitting from services.
However, it appears that demand for early learning and childcare remains higher than available supply in certain parts of the country, particularly for younger children.
The Building Blocks Extension scheme allowed Core Funding Partner Services to extend their existing premises or, in the case of community services, to construct or purchase new premises. The Scheme will deliver up to 1,500 full-day care places, beginning to become available from 2026.
As part of the National Development Plan, €197 million has been made available for capital investment in early learning and childcare in the period 2026-2030. This will include investment in buildings through the State-led early learning and childcare programme, investment in expansion of existing early learning and childcare operators through the Building Blocks scheme and a number of quality initiatives including supports to childminders.
Preparatory work for this programme of capital investment is underway, with the multi-year programme planned to commence from 2026 onwards.
Early learning and care and school-age childcare should serve the public good, giving children opportunities, enabling families to make decisions that work for them, and providing an important support for economic growth and social equity. This Government recognises that to achieve their full potential, parents need support, and Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare are key enablers of work life balance. Shaping the Future, the new Early Years Action Plan, sets out the next steps in delivery of the key commitments in the Programme for Government to improve affordability, quality, and access.
Phase 2 actions will be published later in 2026 following a broad consultation and will include a roadmap to reduce parental fees to a maximum of €200 per month over the lifetime of the Government.
Core Funding is a funding scheme designed to support affordability for parents through:
• ensuring no increases in fees,
• capping the maximum fees that can be charged, and
• offering the National Childhood Scheme (NCS) and the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme to all eligible children
€20.6 million has been secured in Budget 2026 to support providers in adhering to Core Funding fee management conditions. This will guarantee that Core Funding’s monetary protections will continue to be passed on to families. New, lower maximum fee levels will be set during the course of 2026, when full details of Core Funding for the 2026-27 programme year are announced.
The NCS provides subsidies to reduce the costs of childcare for families. A minimum of €2.14 per child per hour is available to all families through the universal subsidy. A Review of the NCS is due to commence early in 2026 which will, among other things, look at the impact of NCS subsidies on the labour market participation of parents across all income groups.
Yesterday I announced adjustments to the NCS income assessed subsidy. From September 2026, the NCS income thresholds and multiple child deductions (MCD) will be increased. The lower and upper income thresholds will be increased from the existing €26,000 to €60,000, up to between €34,000 and €68,000.
The multiple child discount (MCD) component of the NCS subsidy will also be increased from €4,300 to €5,500 for families with 2 children and from €8,600 to €11,000 for families with 3 or more children, to reduce the cumulative burden of childcare costs.
These changes will improve the affordability of childcare for up to 47,000 children from lower income families.
