Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions Dail Éireann — 2026-05-13 ============================================================ Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central In terms of childcare more generally, there has been very significant progress made in childcare in the last number of years. Again, Deputy Cairns will not acknowledge that, but it is the reality in terms of both reduction of costs and, indeed, the increase in the numbers of children availing of the various programmes we have. In terms of the national childcare scheme, about 277,000 children will be supported this year. That is an increase of 27,000 children in just one year. Income thresholds are rising from September of this year, from €34,000 and €68,000, ensuring more low- and middle-income families qualify for higher levels of support. Some 105,000 children continue to benefit from two years of free preschool under the ECCE programme and the access and inclusion model now supports a record 8,400 children with disabilities, ensuring access to mainstream early learning and childcare. Core funding now exceeds about €420 million. That is a 62% increase since 2022, with 93% of providers signed up. After subsidies, parents in many instances now pay no more than €198.70 per week for a full-day, 45-hour place. We have more to do and we want to reduce the fees even further. We are going to continue to work on that and the forthcoming budget will be an opportunity to improve the situation in terms of the cost of childcare and also, of course, in terms of payments. Regarding human capital and people who work in childcare, we have focused on that in particular in the last number of years, and this year's core funding allocation includes about €45 million ring-fenced to support improved pay for early-years educators and school-age childcare practitioners where new employment regulation orders are agreed. We achieved a milestone in the last Government by agreeing such a regulation order and the most recent employment regulation order delivered an average 10% increase in minimum pay rates, benefitting over two thirds of the workforce. The pay-related negotiations are conducted through the joint labour committee, with Government backing the outcomes financially through the core funding. For the first time ever, the State is now the directly supporting the creation of new childcare capacity through a State-led building, acquisition and delivery programme targeting areas of greatest need, including places for children under three years of age and in rural and disadvantaged communities. There is €135 million in capital investment available over the next five years, with up to eight buildings to be selected for investment in 2026. There has been steady progress made. In terms of the broader issue of State-led childcare provision, childcare has evolved over the last 30-odd years, beginning, actually, in the Department of justice under the new opportunities for women, NOW, programme. It has evolved through both community playschools, private operators and some----- --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-13/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:03+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-05-13