Childcare fees for some parents to be reduced from September

Ellen O'Donoghue

From September, childcare fees for parents paying the highest rates will be capped at €295 per week.

With the National Childcare Scheme subsidy, many parents will effectively pay around €198 weekly, closer to the national average of €197.

The cap applies to full-day care of 40 to 50 hours and follows a fee freeze introduced in 2022.

State funding for childcare will also rise by €60 million next year.

Minister for children, Norma Foley, told Newstalk that some parents fork out €400 a week.

"So the maximum amount that can be charged is €295, and when the subsidy that’s applied for parents, when that’s injected that’s €198.70 per week, so for those parents on those very high fees, that’s a saving of more than €5,460 a year or almost 5,500 a year," Ms Foley said.

However, according to figures from the Department of Children, the highest average fees being paid at the moment is in the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown area of Dublin at €258.

The department said the fee cap will bring fees “closer to the average weekly fee of €197 for full day care”.

The figures, released to Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly, show that Cork, Dublin, Kildare, Meath, and Wicklow are the only counties with a current average above €197, the Irish Examiner reported.

Mr Farrelly said that while he welcomes the announcement, the move falls short of addressing the significant issues facing families who are trying to find a place for their child or workers who do not have pay parity with their peers.

While announcing the fee cap, as well as an increase in investment of €60m, Ms Foley said it would reduce the cost for families who are facing the highest fees across the country in around 10% of early learning and childcare providers.

“It will address some of the extreme fee disparities across the sector in a meaningful way, so that there are more consistent rates in place for families in their local area,” said Ms Foley.