Foley announces further reduction in childcare fees

Some parents paying the highest rates for childcare will see a reduction in their fees from September, the Children’s Minister said, adding that the work to reduce rates further is “unfinished”.

Under the new maximum fee caps for providers availing of State support through Core Funding, the highest possible fees will be no more than 295 euros per week for a full day place of between 40-50 hours per week.

This will bring these fees closer to the average weekly fee of 197 euros for full day care.

The move comes after the Government committed to progressively reduce the cost of early learning and childcare to 200 euros per month during the lifetime of the coalition.

It follows an initial fee cap which was put in place last year limited to new entrants to the scheme.

That cap will now be lowered and applied to all new and existing services receiving the State funding from September, which will further lower the maximum fees that can be charged depending on the number of hours provided.

Fees for parents are further reduced by State subsidies under the National Childcare Scheme and the free, universal two-year Early Childhood Care and Education pre-school programme.

A parent being charged the maximum permissible fee of 295 euros per week for a full day place would be entitled to receive the universal National Childcare Scheme subsidy of 96.30 euros, meaning their own co-payment would be no more than 198.70 euros per week.

Higher subsidies are available for many parents depending on their level of income as well as the age and number of children in their family.

The measure was announced by Children’s Minister Norma Foley on Thursday.

She said the move would reduce costs for families who are facing the highest fees across the country in around 10% of early learning and childcare providers.

At the same time, State funding for early learning and childcare providers through Core Funding is being increased by 60 million euros for the forthcoming 2025/2026 period, bringing it to a record level of more than 390 million euros.

The Department of Children said “unprecedented funding” will ensure an existing fee freeze, which was introduced in 2022, will remain in place for participating services.

Speaking to reporters at the Department of Children, Ms Foley said: “We have made considerable progress over the last number of years but today we’re also cognisant that it is an unfinished journey – and we remain on the journey.”

She said the fee cap would support parents who are “paying extraordinarily high fees”.

As an example, Ms Foley said: “Parents who are paying particularly high fees are paying between 300-325 euro.

“The fee cap will reduce that to 295 euro, and when the subsidy which is already in existence gets factored in, they would pay less than 200 euro.

“So on average right across the year, that is a saving for those parents of approximately 1,500 euro.”