1021. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the supports that will be available to parents if their childcare facility withdraws from core funding and prices go up as a result; and the steps she will take to address this issue. [64590/26]

The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme and the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) are currently available to parents regardless of whether or not the early learning and childcare service their child is attending is participating in Core Funding.

ECCE is a universal programme which provides 2 years of free preschool to children in the eligible age range of 2 years and 8 months to 5 years and 6 months.

The Department funds private early learning and care service providers to provide the ECCE programme at a standard rate of €69 per week per child attending the ECCE programme.

The NCS has undergone a number of enhancements in recent Budgets with the minimum NCS subsidy steadily rising from €0.50 in 2022 to €2.14 in September 2024 alongside extensions to eligibility. Additionally, since September 2024, the NCS has been open to Tusla-registered childminders who wish to participate in the scheme. Families availing of childminders who are participating in the NCS can claim a subsidy towards their costs. Further enhancements to the income-assessed subsidy are being introduced from September 2026, raising the base threshold from €26,000 to €34,000 and the maximum threshold from €60,000 to €68,000, with additional increases to the multiple child discounts.[]

The Phase 1 report of Shaping the Future: the Early Years Action Plan was published in December 2025. The report sets out the next steps in the delivery of a number of Programme for Government commitments relating to Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC). The Action Plan adopts a phased approach that enables action to be taken in 2026 while allowing adequate time for a broad public consultation and analysis on longer-term actions, which will be set out in a second report to be published by the end of 2026.

The Phase 1 report (published last December) documents actions that will be undertaken in 2026 using the Department’s existing policy tools. The short-term actions in Phase 1 build on recent reforms to the National Childcare Scheme and Core Funding, and use existing policy mechanisms to strengthen affordability, access and quality.

In line with the Programme for Government commitment, 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. Phase 2 actions will include a roadmap to reduce parental fees to a maximum of €200 per month over the lifetime of the Government.

Parents experiencing difficulty in relation to their early learning and childcare needs should contact their local City/County Childcare Committee for assistance. For information, the Department has a list of all Core Funding Partner Services which is updated regularly on the Departments website under How to Find a Partner Service.