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GE2024Policy timeLAST UPDATE | 13 Nov 2024
FINE GAEL HAS promised to cap the cost of childcare at €200 per child per month within its first year in Government if re-elected, as the three largest parties go to battle on the issue.
Launching their plans today in Dublin, Fine Gael Justice Minister Helen McEntee also pledged an additional cap of €600 per family for families with more than three children.
“It will be costed in the upcoming Budget and we intend to introduce it immediately,” McEntee said.
Childcare has become a battleground in this election, with most of the main political parties landing on a figure of approximately €200 per month for childcare as they attempt to win over voters.
Sinn Féin has pledged a €10 per child per day model, with a cap of €200 per month, while Fianna Fáil has also promised a €200 per month model.
Currently families pay on average €800 per month per child.
Sinn Féin has pledged that their €200 cap would be put in place by September 2025.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin on the otherhand, would not commit to a specific date for implementation, instead telling reporters at his party’s manifesto launch earlier this week that the reduction in cost would be achieved over a five year term in government.
Meanwhile, as part of Fine Gael’s children’s policy, the party have also pledged to create 30,000 new early learning places in public early learning and school age care services by 2030.
It has also pledged to release an action plan on accessible, affordable and high quality early childhood education and care within the first 100 days of government, if re-elected.
Another major plank of Fine Gael children’s policy is a pledge to introduce Pay-Related Parents Benefit.
Under this proposal, the rate of parents benefit will be linked to a mother or father’s income in a bid to encourage them to spend more time with their newborn children.
The document, entitled ‘Giving our children the best start in life’, also commits to expanding the Hot School Meals programme to every school in the country and introducing a pilot programme to tackle child hunger during the school holidays.
This pilot would be launched next summer if Fine Gael returns to government, according to the party.
Elsewhere, the proposals also pledge to strengthen Tusla’s child protection powers, in part by boosting staff and resources.
At the launch today, the party played a video which showed Taoiseach Simon Harris answering questions from a group of school aged children about Fine Gael’s plans to help parents with the costs of raising a family.
In the promotional video, the Taoiseach asked the children: “What do people need to do to make this happen?”
The children chant in response: “Vote number 1… Vote Fine Gael”.
At one point during the press conference, TD Neale Richmond was asked what Fine Gael plans to do to attract more early-years childcare educators into the sector.
He said his party will work with the sector to make sure staff are paid fairly and added: “I’ll put on record, I love teachers so much I married one…It’s about making sure they stay in the sector and are rewarded for their work.”
When asked if he would commit to raising minimum wage in the sector to €15 (as has been pledged by The Labour Party), Richmond said he wouldn’t “get into specifics” because “that’s not my job”.
“We’re not getting into auction politics here, we’re saying there is quite a clear process of how you agree a minimum salary,” Richmond said.
He added however that he would expect that an increase of about €2 would be needed. Currently the minimum wage in the sector is €13.65.
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They went full Islamist so it’s not a surprise.
@Alex: By having a Muslim leader you mean?
@Alex: have you ever been to scoland lad ,laddie or anything thing else you want to be know as , sectarian poverty, enormous wealth and religions that done everything to each other and still slaughtered our Islam friends ,
Very strange headline from PA / The Journal. Scottish independence movement is not at an end and won’t be until Scotland gains its independence again.
SNP can now all fit in sturgeon’s dodgy camper van….
@David Cotter: interesting that all that has gone very quiet. No court dates.
Constant moaning while they are funded by Westminster. And to say that he still in his heart and soul believes in Scottish Independence just shows how out of touch he is. At least his constituents seem to know which side their bread is buttered on. In comparison it seems he wants it buttered on both sides
@Fintan Neelan: very narrow view
U use the resources given to you ..
Would you rather they abstained like SF ?
NEVER happy
And SF is the 5th largest party in the UK! You can’t control borders if you don’t own your own borders. A United Ireland is inevitable
@D. Peadar:
If Shin Fein are serious about a United Ireland they need to start trying to convince the nationalists/catholics /wolf tone cd owners it’s a good idea.
The Scottish Independence movement has NOT collapsed. Independence led by 2% in the last poll a fortnight ago. It is simply much more than the SNP, which got a huge vote, just not as huge as Labour and the first past the post system flipped them out. Other parties and voters also support independence.
The first past the post system is very odd.
@Washpenrebel: How is winning by getting the most votes odd?
@Vincent Wallace: do you not think winning nearly two-thirds of the seats with a little more than one-third of the vote is odd? Do you not think the Liberal Democrats getting fewer votes than Reform but more than ten times as many seats is odd?
Just a few years ago, the UK appeared to be falling apart over Brexit and under Johnson and Truss. That moment is gone now but it would be very foolish to think it couldn’t come back again. Anything is possible.
@N M: the UK is falling apart,why do you think the tory party just got crushed
The Nicola Sturgeon debacle coupled with wanting to get the tories out of power right now lead to their poor showing. I doubt it’s changed one persons mind on independence. It’s just on the back burner until they can regroup.
The Scots never really wanted independence, only the romantic right to want it. I mean come on! They had their chance once, and said no. Put the independence question to bed and move on.
@Keth Tgi:
Watching Braveheart and painting their face blue seemed to work for a while.
All the SNP need is a new leader to continue the legacy of the past, perhaps Shane Codd or Rob Herring.
That’s what happen when you let Islamists in command. They made a mess of it. Frankly, that was laughable
Themselves and the fianna failers would make the mafia look like choirboys
have your say