Dáil Éireann Debate, Monday - 11 September 2023
1485. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the estimated full year cost of abolishing childcare fees for parents through increasing the universal childcare subsidy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39124/23]
View answerMy Department does not hold individualised fee data for parents. These are local agreements between parents and early learning and childcare providers that reflect diverse needs and usage patterns, with fees varying within and across counties.
My Department has not, heretofore, routinely gathered data on parental fee income to early learning and childcare services other than through occasional research studies, e.g. the independent review of costs. The independent review of costs undertaken by Crowe in 2018 on behalf of the Department found that approximately 40% of the total income to the sector in 2017 came from parental fees at a time when annual state investment in the sector was €466 million. This percentage varied significantly across services. Many services relied entirely on State funding while a small proportion of service relied exclusively on parental fees.
Core Funding Partner Services are required to provide financial returns in late 2023 detailing their income and costs, which will provide up to date insight into the financial operations of services and allow an accurate estimate of income from parents fees to be derived, in addition to income from the State and surplus.
