Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 June 2026
592. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the amount by which childcare fees will be reduced for a typical working family on the average wage with two children under five years under the national childcare scheme changes recently announced by her Department. [47222/26]
View answerThe National Childcare Scheme (NCS) provides financial support to help parents reduce the cost of early learning and childcare through a subsidy paid directly to the provider that can be off set against fees charged.
In September 2026, the Income-Assessed thresholds for the scheme will increase. This was committed to in Shaping the Future: The Early Years Action Plan. This investment will support households earning below a certain amount to access higher subsidies, offsetting the cost of early learning and childcare.
Through increasing the NCS Income-Assessed thresholds, families whose reckonable income falls within the new thresholds will receive a higher subsidy, as they will move to a higher income-assessed rate, according to their individual circumstances. The Multiple Child Discount will also increase, further reducing the reckonable income for families with two or more children. This will enable those families to receive a higher subsidy and thereby reduce the cumulative burden of cost.
From September 2026, most families currently receiving an Income-Assessed subsidy will see an increase in their rate due to these changes. This investment will also support additional families to move from their existing Universal rate to an Income-Assessed subsidy where it may be of more benefit.
The increase in Income-Assessed thresholds is expected to improve early learning and childcare affordability for up to 47,000 families.
Multiple factors go in to calculating the Income Assessed award. These include income after tax, hours of subsidy claimed, parents' participation in school or work, and the child's age, among other factors. Families can use the Childcare Subsidy Calculator, available on the Hive, to calculate what their expected subsidy is.
The Deputy has asked the increased benefits that would accrue to a working family with a reckonable income of €61,666 per year, after taxes and including child benefit, with two children under 5. Since a number of factors determine the Income Assessed Award, the Department has made a number of additional assumptions.
First, the Department assumes that their youngest child is 9 months old at the start of the year, and turns 1 year of age 3 months in to the claim, thereby moving into a lower rate age band. This child is assumed to claim full-time, 45-hour a week early learning and childcare.
Second, the Department assumed that their eldest child is 3 years old. It was assumed this child is also enrolled in Early Childhood Care and Education, which reduces their claim hours during the ECCE term, but is attending for full-time hours - of 45 hours per week.
After the threshold changes, their youngest child's subsidy will increase from €2.37 an hour to €3.17 an hour, an €0.80c increase, which will change to a €0.60c increase once they turn one. This equates to an annual savings of €1,512 for this child.
Their eldest child's subsidy will increase from €2.31 an hour to €2.91 an hour, a €0.60c increase. This equates to an annual savings of €1,062 for this child.
While the Income Assessed calculation does rely on a number of factors, and families will have to estimate their award based on their own unique circumstances, in this scenario the family could expect an annual savings of €2,574 from the threshold changes.
