Parents of young children should receive a subsidy of €50 per week additional to child benefit, the Labour Party said in a major policy document launched today.
Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte at the launch of the party's new polciy on childcare
In a speech at the launch of the document in Dublin today, party leader Pat Rabbitte said there should be no distinction between working parents and "so-called stay-at-home-parents" .
"Those distinctions are becoming increasingly blurred and irrelevant ... I believe society should enhance and support the positive choices that parents make for their children," Mr Rabitte said.
The party proposes a subsidy of €50 per week per child between the end of maternity leave the end of a pre-school year. A further €25 subsidy for all primary school children also forms part of a package costed at around €1.5 billion a year.
Other elements of the "Putting Children First" policy include extend paid parental leave; free year's pre-school and more family-friendly practices. Measures to encourage a range of after-school care and an €8,000 tax exemption for childminders also forms part of the policy
Mr Rabbitte acknowledged that such measures are expensive but that other countries make better provision than Ireland. "It won't be done overnight, but we can, over a period of time, put in place a structure for childcare and pre-school education, which meets two needs: respecting and supporting the choices of parents, and putting children first."
"If, like other European countries, we want to support family life, there will be a bill to pay," the Labour leader said.
The party spokesperson on children Senator Kathleen O'Meara said investment in childcare was particularly important in "breaking the cycle of poverty and has been shown to make a significant impact on the ongoing problem of early school leaving".
"For many lone parents, affordable childcare is what makes the difference between being at work and not being at work," Ms O'Meara said.
The Government is expected to announce a major childcare package in December's budget having identified the issue as an important pillar of its new socially caring image.