Parents around the country were left confused last week when the Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers said he was reducing the “maximum childcare fees paid by parents from €735 to €550 per month” for children up to senior infants from September of next year. It led to a slew of emails to The Irish Times with parents wondering why they are currently paying well above that figure - from €959 up to €1,400. Irish Times deputy business editor Dominic Coyle explains that "not for the first time, there appears to be a substantial “reality gap” between the Government’s understanding of the “maximum” cost of care and the real maximum under its own core funding rules." In this episode of Better with Money, Coyle and host Aideen Finnegan explain the fee system under the Core Funding scheme, what subsidies are available to parents and how lower-income households can avail of extra supports to help with the cost (such as the income assessed subsidy which will rise €73,000 next year). The episode also examines what's driving costs for the sector and why childcare providers feel they're being under-compensated.
This episode is brought to you in association with Standard Life
Understanding the fee caps and subsidies for parents under the National Childcare Scheme
Dominic Coyle on the gender pension gap
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