Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 12 July 2017
405. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of children estimated to receive a subsidy for each of the amounts (details supplied) per hour, per week under the 2017 extended childcare scheme measures; and the cost associated with each of these separate categories of children once implemented. [33237/17]
View answerOn 11th April, I made an announcement that this September a range of measures will be introduced by my Department to make childcare more affordable for thousands of families throughout Ireland. These include:
- A new universal subsidy will be available for all children aged between 6 months and 3 years of age (or until they are eligible for ECCE) in registered childcare. This will amount to as much as €80 a month or €1,040 per year for children in full time childcare.
- Subsidies provided under existing childcare schemes, specifically the Community Childcare Subvention (CCS) and Training and Employment Childcare (TEC) Schemes will be increased significantly, in some cases by as much as 50%.
As the childcare grant schemes as currently constituted are not calculated on a per-hour basis, it is not possible to provide the breakdown requested by the Deputy. However, I have provided an estimated number of beneficiaries by scheme as per the following table for the 17/18 programme year:
|
Scheme |
Expected number of beneficiaries |
|
Targeted CCS bands (current) |
25,000 |
|
Targeted CCS bands (additional) |
5,000 |
|
TEC (current) |
7,000 |
|
Universal CCS |
33,000 |
|
TOTAL |
70,000 |
The cost of these provisions will be within the envelope previously allocated to the Affordable Childcare Scheme, a figure of €150m for 2018.
I would note that as these programmes are demand led and any figures can only be estimates. My Department has been running a multi-faceted information campaign to raise awareness amongst childcare providers, parents and the wider sector with regard to the availability of increased childcare subvention taking effect from September 2017. A campaign which I would hope will maximise the numbers taking up the schemes.
