INCREASED INCOME LIMITS for the National Childcare Scheme are to come into effect in September 2026, which will reduce the childcare bills for tens of thousands of working families on lower incomes.

Minister for Children, Disability and Equality Norma Foley is finalising work on phase one of the government’s new childcare scheme, known as the Early Years Action Plan, which is due for publication next week.

The minister will bring a memo to Cabinet next week which will contain actions that can be implemented in the short term to increase access to places, improve affordability and continue to raise quality standards in the early years sector.

The memo comes more than six months later than was promised by Fine Gael leader Simon Harris, who pledged to publish a roadmap for cutting the cost of childcare to €200 per month within the first 100 days of government.

Actions in phase one of the new childcare plan will include increases to the income limits for the National Childcare Scheme, which have been unchanged since 2019.

Families can currently get full subsidies if their income is below €26,000. They can get a graduated level of subsidies if their income is between €26,000 and €60,000.

The government believes the beginning of the process to increase these income limits at the lower and upper levels will be key to addressing child poverty amongst working families.

In October’s budget, funding to introduce new maximum fee caps to reduce the burden on families paying the highest childcare bills was mentioned, however, details of the fee caps will not be announced until 2026, once financial returns are received from early learning and care providers.

The Early Years Action Plan will also contain details of funding to support a new employment regulation order for staff in the sector.

It will also include new measures to simplify administration in the early years sector to reduce the red tape for providers and parents, as well as laying out the start of an extensive public consultation process on the long-term future of the early years sector.

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The government says this will inform the best way to achieve the Programme for Government commitment to reduce childcare costs for parents to €200 per child per month within the lifetime of government.

As reported by The Journal earlier this month, the plan 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, and following the outcome of the extensive public consultation process.

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