The government must provide clarity on its plan to reduce childcare costs to \u20ac200 a month, according to Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly.<\/p>\n
Deputy Farrelly, the party\u2019s spokesperson for children, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government has promised to reduce childcare costs to \u20ac200 a month – but it is nowhere near meeting this commitment.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany families are being forced to pay hundreds of euro more than that every month, all the while there are families all over the country who find it almost impossible to even secure a childcare place.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe commitment to roll out a public model of childcare, and reduce costs to \u20ac200 per month, must be more than electioneering – it must become a reality.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a member of the Children and Equality committee, I\u2019ll be proposing that this issue forms the basis of a special Oireachtas committee on early years education and childcare.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s time for the idea of P\u00e1istecare – this would be the equivalent to what Sl\u00e1intecare is for the healthcare system in Ireland.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a lack of vision when it comes to the future of early years education and childcare from this government.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Programme for Government mentions vague measures to tackle costs but ignores the real issue of recruitment and retention, as well as that of capacity.<\/p>\n
\u201cP\u00e1istecare can be a cross-party plan that would see a public model of childcare developed and implemented across the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis radical reform will incorporate best practice and ensure children and workers have the best possible outcomes.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody must now come together to finally address the issues in early years education and childcare and design a truly affordable and accessible model.”<\/p>\n
14th May, 2025<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The government must provide clarity on its plan to reduce childcare costs to \u20ac200 a month, according to Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly. Deputy Farrelly, the party\u2019s spokesperson for children, said: \u201cThe government has promised to reduce childcare costs to \u20ac200 a month – but it is nowhere near meeting this commitment. \u201cMany families are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11557,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[396,296,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aidan-farrelly","category-childcare","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n