Parents could get creche fees cuts worth an extra €120 a month in the Budget, it has emerged.
This would bring the total subsidy to as high as €200 per month, based on 40 hour weeks.
Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman is pushing to get extra money for his department from central coffers to fund the cuts in creche fees, and at the same time get more pay for workers.
Negotiations are set to go right up to the wire on them this year as every other government department is also clambering to get more cash in the middle of the cost of living crisis.
The Government pumped €220million into the sector last year that delivered a fees freeze when creches signed up for extra supports to pay for staff and better facilities by promising they wouldn’t increase their rates.
Mr O’Gorman now plans to invest another €1billion into the sector over the coming years, which, since the childcare providers have already received funding, should make its way directly back into the pockets of parents.
The main preschool funding scheme, the National Childcare Scheme (NSC), already contributes 50c an hour towards childcare for parents - which can give a parent €80 a month.
Sources say Mr O’Gorman will push to at least double this, but that he also wants more.
A doubling of the 50c subsidy would give parents assistance worth €160 a month, based on 40 hours, but a 75c hike would bring the support up to €200.
Mr O’Gorman was speaking at the launch of a Together for Better childcare policy plan.
He said: “As I’ve made clear I want to see childcare fees reduced substantially and we can achieve that through increases in the National Childcare Scheme, a decrease in parents’ fees in this Budget.
“We’re in the middle of really transformative change in the childcare sector, the Government is stepping up, it’s significantly increasing investment in the sector and Together for Better begins a journey.”
Mr O’Gorman added: “The fees freeze was achieved through core funding and what we said to providers was that we will provide substantial additional funding and in exchange for that you would agree to freeze your fees.
“So obviously at the moment we know there are huge cost of living pressures on creche providers, on parents, on families right now and freezing fees is the first step in achieving even greater affordability.
“The next step I hope to take in this year’s budget is, all parents are entitled to the NCS, National Childcare Scheme, and that is a subvention that is taken away from their childhood bill to make it cheaper.
“That subvention is quite small right now (50c an hour), I want to grow that subvention significantly in this year’s budget so that parents will see a noticeable difference in their payments in this year’s budget.”
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