Childcare affordability
Deputy Carroll MacNeill highlighted very high childcare costs and the difficulty of returning to work, especially for a single mother. The Taoiseach acknowledged the problem, pointed to recent pay improvements for childcare workers, and said the next budget would need to address affordability for parents.
I will speak as quickly as I can.
I wish to highlight the childcare pressures in my constituency. I know of a 41-year-old professional woman who has a four-and-a-half-month-old baby. If she gets a childcare place for her baby in order for her to return to work, it will cost her between €1,200 and €1,300 per month. She is a single mother who gets the one-parent family payment, but that is offset by tax on maternity benefit. The cost of childcare in my constituency is 60% higher than it is in Carlow and 30% higher than the national average, and that is if someone can even get it.
Comment on this
I do not doubt what the Deputy is saying in terms of the cost of childcare, particularly how it is higher in certain locations than others, but it is high across the country generally.
Comment on this
Caring for a baby is the same no matter where one does it.
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Yes, but I am just saying generally. There are a number of mechanisms by which we can intervene depending on the type of care involved in looking after a child in whatever context. In the last budget, we focused primarily on trying to get better working conditions for those working in the childcare arena. Thankfully, in the past two weeks, an employment regulation order has been agreed, which will lead to an increase in pay and conditions. The next phase will be the upcoming budget, where we will have to look at affordability for parents in terms of the cost of childcare. That is something that we are examining.