Childcare fees set to increase at 600 Government-funded services

Fees are set to increase at about 600 of the State’s roughly 4,300 Government-funded childcare providers over the coming months, according to figures released by the Department of Children.
Providers receiving subsidies from the Government as part of its “core funding” scheme have been subject to price freezes since the end of September 2020.
In response to complaints by many of these providers that they were having to operate at fee levels set well before that date and which were now proving uneconomic, the department established a mechanism earlier this year allowing them to apply for an increase of up to €33 per week.
It now says 815 applications were received from providers and, of these, 269 cases have been processed, with 203 approved to date. It says the approval rate for the granting of some increase is 75 per cent, which suggests about 600 providers will get to increase their fees.
The department says, however, that not all cases involve approvals for the full €33, which is equivalent to the increase to the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) supports implemented at the start of September.
The intention was that while parents impacted by the full increase would not benefit from the higher NCS rates introduced then, none would actually be worse off than before.
“The fee increase application process opened on July 31st this year. Only services currently charging fees below the average in their county are eligible to apply. There is an assessment to ensure there is a demonstrable need for a fee increase before approval is granted,” the department said in a statement.
“This measure balances the need of parents for stability with their early learning and childcare costs, and the need for providers to operate viable businesses in order to continue providing this service for the public good in their community.”
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Sign-up rates for the third year of core funding remain at the same level as last year, the department says, with almost 4,300 services having registered for the coming 12 months and another 45 in the process of doing so.
The figures equate to about 91 per cent of services and are, it says, on course, to increase over the coming weeks.
There have been a number of high-profile instances of services announcing their withdrawal from core funding in order to substantially increase the fees charged to parents while there have been persistent suggestions a much wider withdrawal was imminent.
The figures, however, suggest the majority of providers see benefits from participating in the scheme. They are also engaging with other supports that are intended to control costs for families and increase pay and conditions for those working in the sector.