Most parents who use childcare will benefit from a new maximum cap on fees of €183.70 per week for 45 hours, the Minister for Children has said.
Norma Foley on Wednesday announced the new maximum fee caps, which had been flagged at the time of Budget 2026.
A parent who sends their child for 45 hours of childcare a week, which translates to care between 8am and 5pm Monday to Friday, will see their costs drop from a maximum of €198 per week to €183.70 from September.
But even under the most generous fee caps, parents will still be paying almost the same amount in childcare a week that the Government promised they would pay a month.
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Foley said she hoped to make progress towards the promised €200 a month figure in Budget 2027. It is expected it will take the Government the duration of its term, which runs to 2029, to deliver what was a key election pledge.
At the moment, the Department of Children estimates that about 25 per cent of parents are paying €200 or less a month for childcare.
Parents whose children attend childcare for more than 50 hours a week, a minimum of a 7am drop-off and a 6pm pickup, will pay a maximum weekly fee of €239.70 under the revised plan.
Foley said 45 to 50 hours a week is the “most common” amount of childcare that parents avail of.
“It’s the one that is most consistently used by parents,” she said.
Foley also said from September, childcare providers will be required to share more data with the Government about the fees they charge to parents.
“For the first time, throughout the month of September, providers are being asked to return what their fees are, what parents are being asked to pay, and what ultimately they have to pay on the basis of what they receive from the national child care subsidy,” Foley said.
“We will have very clear data across the entire country as regards what services parents are availing of. The real challenge is that some parents are availing services that are open 30 hours, 40 hours, some of them are half-day, some of them are full day, it’s quite a complicated process,” she said.
“So, for the first time in the month of September, we have the absolute detail of what it involves for parents and what they’re ultimately paying.”
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This year, the Government will spend €480 million in core funding for childcare services, and €45 million of this will be specifically ring-fenced for improved pay for those working in the early years sector.
Exactly how that €45 million is spent will be determined by the Early Years Service Joint Labour Committee (JLC), an independent body that negotiates pay and conditions for early years workers.
Foley said while she “respects” the JLC process, which is entirely independent from Government, she expressed some frustration that the process had not started sooner.
“Would I like to see that process begin earlier? I absolutely would. I think it’s always beneficial the earlier it begins,” she said.
