Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 April 2026
664. Deputy John Paul O'Shea asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the actual full year cost incurred in 2025 from increasing the universal hourly subsidy available under the national childcare scheme from €1.40 to €2.14; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27918/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe National Childcare Scheme (NCS) provides financial support to help parents reduce the cost of early learning and childcare.
Subsidies are available for children aged between 24 weeks and 15 years of age. The minimum rate available is €2.14 per hour, which is available for up to 45 weekly hours.
The value of NCS claims in 2025 was €527,682,404. Please note that this year end figure is not yet finalised and is subject to change.
The number of children using the Scheme has grown by over 70% since 2022 due to enhancements further improving the affordability of childcare for parents. These include the extension of the upper age eligibility for the Universal award from 3 years of age to 15 years of age in August 2022. There have also been two increases to the minimum hourly subsidy rate bringing it up to the current rate of €2.14. Since September 2024, all childminders are able to register for the NCS making the scheme more accessible to more parents.
This growth was further supported by Core Funding, which aims to ensure affordability for parents through fee management conditions and ensuring that providers offer NCS and ECCE to all eligible children.
All of these changes have contributed to significant growth within the Scheme. For this reason, it is not possible to isolate the total cost incurred by a single change, such as increasing the subsidy from €1.40 to €2.14 an hour.
