Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 April 2026
966. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will make a statement on precisely the roadmap for reducing early years fees to €200; if she will detail the engagement she has undertaken and will take with providers and trade unions in respect of same; and if she will make a statement on her plans to ensure that there is adequate buy-in from the sector to facilitate such a reduction. [30656/26]
View answerThe Phase 1 report of Shaping the Future: the Early Years Action Plan was published on 17th December 2025. The report sets out the next steps in the delivery of a number of Programme for Government commitments relating to Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC). A central objective of Shaping the Future is to reduce parental fees to an upper limit of €200 per month over the lifetime of the Government.
The Phase 1 report focuses on short-term actions to be undertaken in 2026 within the budgetary resources available for the year. In line with the Programme for Government commitment, a broad public consultation process is currently underway.
As part of the National Conversation on Education: the First 5 years and School-Age Childcare, the Department of Children, Disability, and Equality (DCDE) is undertaking a public consultation process on the future of early learning and care and school-age childcare (including childminders). This broad consultation process seeks views not only from early years educators, school-age childcare practitioners and childminders, but also from parents, providers, other stakeholders, and community members. Input gathered during the National Conversation will inform both Phase 2 of Shaping the Future—the Government’s Early Years Action Plan—and the successor to the First 5 Strategy, Ireland’s Whole-of-Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and their Families.
The consultation process has a number of channels which allow for the participation of a wide range of stakeholders:
A national online survey on ELC and SAC (now closed) which received over 11,000 responses.
• A survey of a nationally representative sample of parents. This is a telephone poll of a representative sample of 500 households with children under 14 which asks parents about their experiences and perspectives on early learning and childcare.
• An art engagement exercise with children.
• More than 50 local consultation events that are taking place between 20-30 April. These are being organised with the City and County Childcare Committees.
• A national consultation event that will take place in June: The Shaping the Future National Forum: Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare (details of which will be released soon).
It should be noted that the Early Learning and Childcare Stakeholder Forum (ELCSF) continues to be the main consultation mechanism between this Department's ELC/SAC Division and the stakeholders in the ELC/SAC sector, and this will remain the case throughout the development of Shaping the Future Phase 2. The main focus of upcoming ELCSF meetings will be consultation on the development of Shaping the Future: the Early Years Action Plan. While ELCSF members are also able to take part in the above elements of the consultation process (including local consultation events and the national forum in June), the upcoming ELCSF meetings will be the primary opportunity for key stakeholders to inform the planning process.
Results of this consultation, as well as additional analysis, will inform Phase 2 of the Action Plan. A roadmap will be developed over the course of 2026, for publication in the Phase 2 report, which will set out a timeline of actions over the years 2027-2029 and beyond.
It is important to stress that both Phase 1 and Phase 2 of Shaping the Future: the Early Years Action Plan are being informed by an extensive range of research, data-analysis, and public consultation processes that have been undertaken over recent years and that continue.
