€85m more to overhaul childcare

CAPPING parents’ total childcare costs at €100 a month would cost the State an extra €85million a year compared to a maximum monthly cost of €200, new Government figures have shown.

Labour leader Ivana Bacik, who obtained the figures, said they show that for just €85million extra, the Government could radically overhaul childcare in Ireland.

‘Indicative figures’ released to the Dublin Bay South TD show that the difference between capping childcare fees at €100 or €200 a month would be just €85million a year.

In response to a parliamentary question from Deputy Bacik, Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman said that capping parent’s monthly payments to €200 could cost the Government €270million a year, while dropping monthly payments to €100 a month could cost €355million. However, Minister O’Gorman also warned that it was ‘not feasible’ to cap fees at the same rate for all parents across the country.

He stressed that the figures ‘should be interpreted with caution as the fees can vary greatly depending on the age of the child, the location and provider’.

However, the Minister did provide ‘indicative’ figures showing how much it may cost the State if it did decide to cap fees at either €100 a month or

€50 a week (€200 a month). The model was based on average payments and assumed that parents were paying €747.36 per month for childcare.

Minister O’Gorman noted some childcare providers in urban areas tend to charge more. In the hypothetical scenario the Department capped childcare fees, the investment of between €270million and €355million would be on top of existing costs associated with the National Childcare Scheme (NCS).

Ms Bacik told the Mail the Labour Party is calling for a ‘Donogh O’Malley moment’ and said interventions must be as ‘radical’ as the former education minister’s decision to make secondary school education free.