Government committed to €200 childcare fee, but increase in places must happen

Irish Independent

6 hours ago

A big feature of the election, which also made it into the Programme for Government, was the promise to reduce childcare fees to €200 per child per month.
Last month, Children's Minister Norma Foley announced that fees for parents paying the highest rates in the country are to see those fees capped from September.
This meant that fees would be brought closer to the average weekly fee of €197 for full day care, when the National Childcare Scheme subsidy is included.
However, the figure is a long way off the commitment from government - but Taoiseach Micheál Martin said commitments in the Programme for Government would be followed through.
'The minister will come to us with her priorities, and obviously it's a Programme for Government commitment, so all Programme for Government commitments, will be followed through. So that's the basic point,' the Taoiseach said.
'But we also cannot lose sight of the need, as well as affordability, we have to move also in terms of additionality, in terms of places, and that people can get places,' he added.
Mr Martin added that research showed more childcare places were needed quickly.
'We've made very good progress in childcare, but we need more places, so the access issue and the number of places is also important as well as affordability,' Mr Martin said.
'Some of the research at the moment is pointing towards the need to improve the number of places fairly quickly. In respect of child care, again, that speaks to the growth of population and the pressures on child care and health services and education. So there will be a focus on childcare, and that will continue,' he added.
Asked if measures to begin the process of moving towards the €200 per month promise need to happen to show the Government is committed to reduction, Mr Martin said progress made in recent years needed to continue.
However, he added that 'we can't do everything at once'.
'We have a whole range of issues now that we have to make progress on. There will be negotiations leading into the budget. We can't do everything at once, so we will endeavour to prioritise and continue the progress we've made in recent years,' he added.
Last year, it was reported that a row had broken out in Government over the increase to social welfare payments with former Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys wanting increases for some on welfare payments, including pensioners, but not for jobseekers.
Speaking in Hiroshima on his final day of his four-day visit to Japan, Mr Martin said the row was a 'false row' and that the proposal was never put to Fianna Fáil.
Asked if he thought job seekers were less deserving of an increase in the budget than others on welfare, he said he does not agree with the characterisation of people on welfare.
He added that priorities would have to be made in the budget and would like to see measures on child poverty come from the Department of Social Protection.
'I don't like drawing distinctions, and I've never been into the characterisation of people on welfare. I've never been into that politics,' Mr Martin said.
'We do have to make priorities. In terms of how we allocate, my view is that we have, over the last two years, committed to doing something significant on child poverty, to turn the dial around on child poverty, and that's where I would like to see a targeted set of measures emanating from the Department of Social Protection,' he added.