Budget 2027
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-26
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Simon Harris (FG), Wicklow

I did not realise the Deputy met members of Longford Women's Link today. They are amazing. I visited them in the not-too-distant past and am grateful for the work they do and the opportunities and accessibility they provide to people in a range of areas. I met them in the context of higher education.
The commitment in the programme for Government is clear. We want to get childcare to €200 per child per month in the lifetime of the Government. The Deputy is right that fees and the cost to families make up a part of it, but there is also building the system and reform. I would like in the next budget to make progress on childcare costs but also make progress in the roadmap. In fairness to our colleague, the Minister, Deputy Foley, some important steps have been taken in the recent past around capital being for the first time available to invest in public facilities.
We need to be conscious - and we are - that one size does not fit all when it comes to childcare. We have to empower parents to make the decisions that make sense for them. Sometimes it is someone coming into your house to mind the children, sometimes it is your children going to someone's house, sometimes it is your child going to a crèche and sometimes it is a voluntary provider. There are many options.
That is why to get the best return for the taxpayer, the parent and the child, we need to see the roadmap of reform alongside the fee reduction.

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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