Coalition pledges target first-time buyers and childcare

The Coalition parties have unveiled key elements of their election manifestos with just days to go before Taoiseach Enda Kenny dissolves the 31st Dáil.

Subsidised childcare will feature in the Fine Gael manifesto, while Labour is promising a scheme to help first-time house buyers, with the State contributing up to €6,000 to help them save a deposit.

Under the Fine Gael plan, children between nine months and three years of age will be given subsidised childcare places, which would cut annual childcare costs by €2,000.

The party claims this will bridge the gap between the first nine months of the child’s life, when it is usually cared for at home, and when it qualifies for free preschool years.

At the weekend, Tánaiste Joan Burton made a series of pledges at her party’s annual conference, including helping first-time house buyers if Labour is returned to office.

The “save-to-buy” scheme will involve a top-up of €1 for every €4 saved by a first-time house buyer up to €1,200 a year over five years.

A typical first home in Dublin, costing €290,000 would require a deposit of €36,000. Under the Labour scheme, up to €6,000 of that would come from the State.

The Taoiseach is expected to dissolve the Dáil in mid-week with an election on Friday, February 26th, and all parties have identified childcare as a key campaign issue.

All have prepared plans to convince voters they will tackle its cost, which has been highlighted as a major block to women re-entering work.

Fianna Fáil is offering a childcare tax credit, which it says would save a family €2,000 a year, the same amount as the Fine Gael plan.

Labour wants to bring costs down to €2 per hour through State-subsidised childcare for children aged nine months to 12 years, while Sinn Féin is proposing to set maximum childcare costs at €180 per week, extend maternity leave by six weeks and introduce a year of shared parental leave.

In its manifesto, Fine Gael will propose extending paid leave to a combined 34 weeks between each parent in the year following the child’s birth during the next government’s term of office.

This will involve the extension of paid leave during a child’s first year by eight weeks – which can be shared between the parents – over the term of the next government, on a two weeks per year basis.

Direct subsidy

The last budget brought in two weeks’ paid paternity leave for the first time. The current paid maternity leave entitlement is 24 weeks after birth and two weeks before birth.

For children aged between nine months and three years, a direct subsidy will be provided to “centre-based providers caring full-time for children”.

“Parents working part-time or in training or education will be entitled to a pro-rata reduction,” the party added.

In addition, Fine Gael is also proposing to extend tax credits to support parents who choose to stay at home to care for children.

Over the term of the next government, Fine Gael will propose increasing the tax credit from €1,000 to €1,650 and the income threshold for the credit from €7,200 to €10,500.

The party is also proposing the allocation of €50 million by 2021 to primary and secondary schools if they make their facilities available for after- school care for children aged between five and 12 years old.