Today\u2019s budget will be met with bitter disappointment by parents due to the absence of measures to bring down the cost of childcare, according to Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly.<\/p>\n
Deputy Farrelly, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on children, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite T\u00e1naiste Simon Harris expressing support for a public model of childcare before last year\u2019s general election, this commitment was quietly dropped from the Programme for Government. Instead, there was only a vague commitment to bring down the monthly cost to \u20ac200 per child, with no timeline for when this would happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is difficult to see how this can be achieved during the lifetime of this government when its first budget is silent on the issue. At the very least, funding should have been provided to begin reducing childcare fees, along with measures to begin establishing a public model of childcare.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Social Democrats have a clear goal as to how we can achieve this. Overseen by a National Childcare Agency, a public model would have the triple benefit of guaranteeing quality early years education and care for children, affordability for parents, and appropriate pay and conditions for those working in the sector.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo start this process, there should be capital investment in publicly owned not-for-profit childcare facilities, using surplus exchequer funds to acquire Early Childhood and Education Care (ECEC) on new and existing sites.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday\u2019s budget also ignores the failings of the core funding model, which is resulting in childcare providers leaving the programme in their droves \u2013 driving up costs for parents.<\/p>\n
\u201cEarly years should be seen by the government as a public good and part of essential infrastructure. It is unforgivable the issue has been so blatantly ignored in this budget.\u201d<\/p>\n
October 7, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today\u2019s budget will be met with bitter disappointment by parents due to the absence of measures to bring down the cost of childcare, according to Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly. Deputy Farrelly, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on children, said: \u201cDespite T\u00e1naiste Simon Harris expressing support for a public model of childcare before last year\u2019s […]<\/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":[396,735,296,540,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aidan-farrelly","category-budget-2026","category-childcare","category-children","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n