Budget measures fall short as childcare crisis continues

Childcare allocations in Budget 2027 have received a muted reaction from those in the sector, with both parents and childcare agencies saying the Government measures don’t go far enough.

Cuts to the cost of childcare, which will be capped at €550 per month from September 2027 for children attending creches that are signed up to the Core Funding model, and an increase in the tax-free threshold for childminders, to €20,000 a year, were some of the key takeaways announced in Budget 2027.

However, working parents in rural Ireland continue to struggle to secure childcare places in their communities and many are ambivalent about the reduction in costs for services they cannot access.

Carrie O’Hanlon is due to return to work next month following the birth of her second child last year. When the childminder caring for her eldest daughter retired, she was faced with the reality of a chronic lack of childcare places in her native Waterford, which prompted her to set up the Tramore Childcare Campaign.

“Increased funding and cuts in fees look good on paper, but families know that discounted fees mean very little if you can’t get a creche spot in the first place,” she tells Irish Country Living.

“Like many parts of rural Ireland, local childcare provision is not meeting the needs of our community. We conducted a survey over the summer which found an acute crisis in the lack of childcare places for children under three years of age in Tramore, with 90 families in need of a creche place.

“We called a meeting last June where the majority of our local representatives attended and pledged their support, but words mean nothing. We need action at local and national level. Both the Department of Children and the Department of Education need to come together to develop a plan that will address the childcare and early education needs of this country.

“We had campaigned for a State-led pilot childcare facility for Tramore yet despite a €7.6bn budget allocation, alongside multi-billion-euro, capital plans, we didn’t succeed in securing direct Government intervention in this crisis.

“Nor is there a concrete commitment to address the staffing drain in childcare where early year educators are leaving the sector over pay disparities. While funding has been announced for higher education places, there’s no commitment to introduce wage parity with primary school teachers that would retain qualified staff in local early-years settings.

“Our Tánaiste is taking paternity leave so is living through the need for childcare right now but his party has opted to stick with the status quo instead of introducing meaningful change that would support families and ensure women can remain in the workforce."

Carrie details that while Tramore had a population of 12,500 in the last Census in 2022, there have been 400 more houses built since then.

"These are all family homes, and these families are all likely to have a childcare need at some point in the near future.

“Childcare will probably be forgotten about now the Budget has been passed and it won’t come up again until someone else makes a fuss, probably in the lead in to next year’s Budget.”

Moving too slowly

Amy Greer Murphy is a mother of four from Dunshaughlin in Co Meath. She has resigned herself to the fact she will not be able to return to work until a place becomes available for her youngest child, which she expects to take another two years.

“There are a very small number of creches near me here and while I have my name down, it’s a very haphazard system where it comes down to the luck of the draw whether or not you get a place,” she explains.

“When I had my first two children, I was able to rely on grandparents for childcare along with opting for shorter work projects which allowed me to cobble together a system that worked for us. That is no longer an option as the grandparents are getting older and it’s not fair or viable for them to care for young children.

“The reduction in fees is a step in the right direction but we are moving far too slowly in this country. I am dying to get back to work, I have invested a lot in my career, I have a PhD, but I know that until my youngest is at ECCE level, it isn’t an option.”

Amy says a universal, State-funded childcare model, as advocated for many years by the National Women’s Council, is the only way the issue of childcare will be addressed adequately.

“We lived in Denmark before returning home and to see the systems they have in place to support families, there’s no reason why it couldn’t be done here. But we are nowhere near the stage where we have the proper infrastructure, where staff are paid properly, and I think that sadly even by the time I’m a granny it won’t have happened.

“Too many women are being forced out of their careers because of childcare problems. I know so many who are juggling career breaks, job sharing and scrambling around for childcare solutions and it’s not sustainable.”

Childminders pause

Mairead Hurley, head of Childminding Services at Childminding Ireland says that while the increase in tax-free threshold earnings was welcome, it fell short of what was needed to support childminders across the country.

“We had called for a doubling of the threshold from €15,000 to €30,000 so we don’t believe the €20,000 limit announced will be enough for most childminders,” she explains.

“It doesn’t take into account the costs of a childminder and when you break it down to an hourly rate, most childminders would be taken over the threshold with only two children in their care, on a full-time basis.

“We do however welcome Minister Norma Foley’s announcement that she will pause the process whereby childminders have to register with Tusla by September 2027, which is causing a lot of concern among our members. The Government estimates there are 13,000 childminders throughout the country, we would argue there are considerably more, yet only 127 have registered to date, so there are obviously issues there that need to be addressed.”

Carrie agrees that the red tape introduced forcing childminders to register with Tusla, in order for parents to receive the National Childcare Subsidy, has led many to leave the sector.

I was lucky to get a creche place for my youngest, but I know the struggle continues for so many other families and something has to be done to ease the pressure on new parents, who cannot advocate for themselves when they are at their most vulnerable

“The entire county of Waterford currently has only three registered childminders, which tells its own story,” she adds.

“I was very happy with the childminder who enabled me to return to work after my eldest child was born, but when she retired, I was faced with the enormity of the challenge facing women when it comes to childcare," she says, adding that 85% of respondents to their survey were women.

“I was lucky to get a creche place for my youngest, but I know the struggle continues for so many other families and something has to be done to ease the pressure on new parents, who cannot advocate for themselves when they are at their most vulnerable.”

Under the new funding measures announced in Budget 2027, the National Childcare Scheme subsidy will increase from €2.14 to €2.50 per hour for children in early years, junior infants and senior infants from next September.

The maximum fee that can be charged by childcare providers that are signed up to the Government’s Core Funding model will be reduced from €280 per week to €250 per week for a child in a typical full-time, five-day a week place of 40-50 hours.

Government has also committed to funding in the region of €50m to address early years educators pay through an Employment Regulation Order due to be negotiated by the independent Early Years Services Joint Labour Committee.