Just 170 out of an estimated 37,000 childminders have registered to avail of a €10,000 tax exemption since it was announced in last December's Budget, writes Carl O'Brien, Social Affairs Correspondent
The measure exempts a childminder from paying tax on earnings less than €10,000. However, if an individual earns any more than this their entire childminding income is subject to tax.
Childminders say the low take-up is because many individuals would face losing money by officially registering.
The income threshold, for example, means a person working a 35-hour week has to earn around €5 an hour to avail of the tax exemption, compared to the minimum wage of €7.65 an hour.
Fine Gael spokesman on social and family affairs David Stanton said the initiative, which formed part of a major childcare package in the Budget, was a "total failure".
He added that the large number of childminders continuing to operate informally, raised a number of child-protection concerns.
However, a spokeswoman for Minister for Children Brian Lenihan said 1,000 childminders were officially registered prior to the budget announcement.
She said the if current registration - or voluntary notification - trends continued the overall figure could reach 2,000 by mid-2007.
"While it is not possible to say whether current trends will continue or accelerate, the voluntary notification system has already received a significant boost as a result of the exemption."
Any childminder who wishes to avail of the tax relief is obliged to notify their local county childcare committee that they are providing a childminding service.
Latest figures show that 172 childminders have notified their county childcare committee that they are providing a service since the Budget. Just 30 have done so in the Greater Dublin Area, while numbers are also low in commuter belt counties such as Wicklow (21) and Meath (17). There have been no registrations in Cork or Galway. Kerry received the highest number of registrations (70).
Childminding Ireland, the national association for childminders, said many members would face a loss of income if they tried to avail of the tax exemption. Bernie Griffiths, the organisation's manager, said they wanted to see a more "realistic" tax exemption.
However county and city childcare committees said there was still a chance more people would seek to avail of the scheme.
Nuala Nic Giobúin, co-ordinator of the Dublin City Childcare Committee, said a greater income threshold, along with more support and services for childminders who were officially registered, would see the numbers increase.