Budget 2027
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-26
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Emer Currie (FG), Dublin West

The Tánaiste is right that it is difficult to compare like for like and that we have to look at working families and their budgets in the round. He has consistently referenced childcare as an area where he wants to support working families. Every week, I speak, as I know the Tánaiste does, to families, women and services about the cost of childcare and about provision.
Today, with Deputy Carrigy, I met with Longford Women's Link. I know the Tánaiste is completely committed to reducing childcare fees to €200 per month over the next four years but the wider reform I spoke of earlier is critical too. That means putting systems in place that last and that people have confidence in. State-led childcare is a major opportunity in the short and long term and should be allowed to evolve. The not-for-profit services that are due to provide it, at least in the short term as it evolves, need a system around them so they can scale up. That is achievable. Core funding requires reform but it is fixable as the State continues to play a greater role. I could go on but my point is this: these are not just problems to fix; they are opportunities for genuine reform and innovation.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-26/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:04+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-26