LAST UPDATE | 28 Sep 2022
THE MINISTER FOR Children has said he hopes parents using childminders will be able to benefit from cheaper childcare in the future.
Speaking to reporters in Government Buildings this morning, Roderic O’Gorman said it will most likely be the end of 2023 or early 2024 that a new simplified regulation system will be in place which will allow childminders onto the National Childcare Scheme (NCS).
Currently this group of childcare providers are not able to qualify for the NCS as they’re not regulated by Tusla.
O’Gorman said a new scheme – the Childminding Action Plan – will create a simplified system to register childminders.
“They don’t have to go through all the processes that a crèche would have to go through. But once they’re able to register, they’ll be able to benefit from the NCS.
“I would hope that next year, we’ll be able to look to include childminders in the NCS so parents who use them – and I know thousands of parents do use childminders – that they can also benefit from the efforts that the government is making to cut the cost of childcare for parents,” O’Gorman said.
He said childminders have been “left aside” from Government supports for a number of years due to the “ad hoc” nature of their service.
It has to be recognised that there are concerns among some childminders about what a new regulatory system might mean for them and their work, he said, which is why the department is taking time to work through the proposals.
Trust has to be built, said the minister.
Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman says from January 2023 changes in the National Childcare Scheme will reduce out of pocket costs by 25%. pic.twitter.com/SNgzWqb9Lu
— Christina Finn (@christinafinn8) September 28, 2022
25% cut in childcare costs
Those with children in crèches will be able to get a 25% cut on their childcare costs from next year as part of yesterday’s budget
The minister has sought to reassure parents that the reduction in childcare costs announced in the budget won’t result in childcare providers increasing fees and swallowing up the savings meant for families.
The government announced a €121 million package which aims to cut the cost of childcare by up to 25%.
O’Gorman said earlier today that 90% of childcare providers will not be able to increase fees following the announcement as they signed up to a “fee freeze” as part of a funding programme introduced last year.
“Last year I introduced ‘core funding’ – a new funding stream for providers – 90% of providers have signed up to that and one of the conditions of that additional money for providers is that they implement a fee freeze,” he told Newstalk Breakfast.
“We had that in place from last year, and that means now when we give this extra money to parents, through the NCS, that isn’t going to be eroded away by providers increasing their fees,” O’Gorman added.
Fórsa – Ireland’s largest public service trade union – said the budget’s childcare measures should have been more radical.
The union’s general secretary Kevin Callinan said that the current high costs demand a permanent solution, such as a fully publicly funded universal system.
“While the broader package of cost-of-living measures is welcome, reflecting the efforts of unions to impress upon the government the need for such measures, childcare needs more than a temporary crisis intervention,” Callinan said.
“Failure to tackle childcare comprehensively means a significant block remains to many parents, usually mothers, hoping to enter the workforce or to return to work after having children,” he said.
- With reporting by Christina Finn
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