Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 May 2023
684. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the amount of funding that was allocated in 2022 to the national childcare scheme; and the amount of this allocation that was spent in 2022, in tabular form. [24426/23]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) provides financial support to help parents meet the cost of early learning and childcare and to support better outcomes for children. There are two types of supports available to families with children aged between 24 weeks and 15 years of age:
• A universal subsidy which is not means tested and provides €1.40 per hour towards the cost of a registered childcare place for a maximum of 45 hours per week.
• An income assessed subsidy which is means tested and will be calculated based on individual circumstances. Rates vary depending on the level of family income, a child’s age and educational stage, and the number of children in the family.
Budget 2022 introduced two important enhancements to the Scheme. The first, which came into effect on 2 May 2022 was the discontinuation of the practice of deducting hours spent in pre-school, or school, from the entitlement to NCS subsidised hours. The second change is that, from 29 August 2022, the NCS universal subsidy has been extended to all children under 15.
The amount of funding that was allocated to the Scheme in 2022, and the amount of this allocation that was spent is set out below in tabular form.
NCS 2022, €'000
|
2022 Original Allocation |
Supplementary Estimates |
2022 Outturn |
|
200,326 |
210,775 |
213,642 |
