THE MINISTER FOR Children is set to unveil her long-awaited childcare action plan later this month, but it is not expected to set out a strict timeline for cutting the cost of childcare to €200 per month.

Minister Norma Foley is expected to bring a memo to Cabinet with the action plan in mid-December, more than six months later than was promised by Fine Gael leader Simon Harris.

Speaking ahead of last year’s general election, Fine Gael leader and now-Tánaiste, Simon Harris, pledged to publish a roadmap for cutting the cost of childcare to €200 per month within the first 100 days of government.

Harris also said he believed the cut could be delivered “in the early time of the government”.

The Journal understands that the plan, which is still being fine-tuned, will consist of two phases. The first phase will consist of actions to be taken over the next year, while the second phase will consist of medium to longer-term actions. 

Getting to the point where childcare costs €200 per month per child will be a focus of the second phase of the plan. 

It is understood that a public consultation is seen as an important step in the process before any strict roadmap to reaching the €200 mark can be set in stone. 

The public consultation, which will include an online survey, will take place in 2026. 

A source familiar with the matter said “complex changes” are needed to achieve the promise of €200 a month. It remains unclear what approach the government plans to take to reach that point. 

In last year’s general election, reducing the cost of childcare was a key pledge of all the main political parties in the country. 

In the Programme for Government, which was published at the beginning of this year, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Regional Independents committed to reducing it to €200 per month per child within the five-year lifetime of this Government.

However, Minister Foley has acknowledged that it will be a “long journey” to get to the €200 mark.