The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has set aside €53 million for a test programme designed to evaluate the expenses of an inclusive public early childhood education and care system. The proposed system would cap the parent’s weekly contribution at €50. The programme, which came as a response to a request by a political party developing its childcare policy, would accommodate 6,000 children from diverse services, reflecting the current sector.
Recently, a consortium of 30 organisations, including the National Women’s Council, advocated for this pilot project, viewing it as a step towards a completely publicly operated system. However, opinions differ on how this system might function and the level of involvement the Government would have in staff employment or service provision.
The department warned that assuming control from the private sector would necessitate significant capital investment. The likelihood is that existing providers will receive increased funding and regulation, with some direct provision in areas lacking services.
A distinct unit established within the department is investigating a series of options for a fully public system. These will likely be proposed to the succeeding government. The unit’s formation in January came after an expert group’s 2021 recommendation that potentially publicly funded systems should be thoroughly assessed.
The group recommended that “the Minister should direct the department to consider the possibility of incorporating some degree of public provision in addition to private provision”. Progress is said to be underway.
During 2024, the Government plans to spend roughly €1.2 billion on childcare through various funding schemes, offering subsidies to families of almost 200,000 children through the National Childcare Scheme. These payments are forwarded to services chosen by parents. This figure is expected to reach 216,000 during 2025.
Policies that aim to limit the full-time childcare fees to between €200 and €250 per month have been put forward by three opposition political groups, namely Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats, and Labour. This would result in an evident decrease in the expenses for a substantial number of parents, who currently are paying about 80% more.
However, implementing the Sinn Féin policies, encompassing registered childminders with Tusla, would need an added financial commitment of €327 million in the opening fiscal year, according to calculations made by The Parliamentary Budgetary Office. The Office further clarified that the cost estimations are uncertain due to the projected nature of the numbers.
The department has been systematically collecting data from those that avail the support of its Core Funding programme. It figured that salary expenses of over 30,000 sector workers amounts to about €1.041 billion, comprising 68% of total expenditures.
Private for-profit operators, who almost monopolize the sector with 75% representation, is estimated by the department to have total operational costs standing at €1.28 billion. Revenue for these operators is majorly influenced by government intervention, which contributes to 69% of the total, and the remaining 30% is catered via parents’ fees.
For maintaining a standard of childcare services that is comparable to those offered by global leaders in this area, several parent advocates, provider representatives, and academic scholars propose that the sector’s funding should meet or exceed €4 billion.