52. Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the steps she is taking to cut the cost of childcare for families; if this is forming an important part of her Budget 2027 negotiations; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47281/26]

Shaping the Future: The Early Years Action Plan, Phase 1 report (published on 17th December 2025) sets out measures to achieve key Programme for Government commitments on the affordability, quality, and accessibility of early learning and care (ELC) and school-age childcare (SAC). A central objective of Shaping the Future is to reduce parental fees to an upper limit of €200 per month over the lifetime of the Government.

The fee-freeze and maximum fee-caps required for Core Funding have been key to the progress in recent years in making ELC and SAC services more affordable.

The Phase 1 report of Shaping the Future sets out actions which will be carried out in 2026 using existing policy tools. 2026 actions on affordability will include further reduction in some of the highest fees paid by parents by lowering the maximum fees that Core Funding Partner Services can charge. In addition, from autumn 2026 we will lower out of pocket costs for lower-income families through the National Childcare Scheme.

These measures include:

- An increase to the lower (base) income threshold of the income-assessed subsidy from €26,000 to €34,000, to ensure that families with incomes below the relative income poverty line receive the maximum subsidies.

- An increase to the upper income threshold (income limit) of the income-assessed subsidy from €60,000 to €68,000, to extend income-assessed subsidies to more families.

- An increase to the multiple child deduction (MCD) component of the income-assessed subsidy for families with two children under the age of 15 from €4,300 to €5,500, and for families with three or more children under the age of 15 from €8,600 to €11,000

I recently announced the details of a further reduction in maximum fee caps for the Core Funding programme year 2026/2027, beginning September 2026. These latest maximum fee caps, which apply to all Core Funding Partner Services, will place a limit on the maximum fees that can be charged across all types of provision. The fee for a full day place – of between 40 and less than 50 hours per week, the most common full day care operating hours – will be no more than €280 per week (before State subsidies under the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) and the ECCE programme are deducted), with a maximum fee of €336 for 50 hours of care or more.

While we need to make progress quickly, the actions we take must be sustainable, underpinned by public consultation and research, and delivered in a way that supports families, the workforce and service providers. That is why a broad public consultation process is currently underway. Results of this consultation, as well as additional analysis, will inform Phase 2 of the Action Plan. Phase 2 actions will be published later in 2026 and will be undertaken from 2027 through to the end of 2029.

Budget 2027 will be considered by Government in the context of the annual estimates process.