Childcare services in Dublin are getting less than two-thirds of the Government backing enjoyed in other parts of the country, according to Fine Gael deputy leader Richard Bruton.
Despite substantial State investment over the last four years, just one extra childcare place has been created in Dublin for every 24 children in the capital, he claimed.
Childcare in Dublin now costs almost double the national average, typically €200 per week per child, while parents must earn a minimum of €30,000 before tax to have any chance of paying for it, said Mr Bruton.
"The harsh reality is that parents are being forced to postpone the decision to have children," he said, accusing the Government of failing to deal with a crisis "that so intimately affects their lives".
"In a particularly Irish twist, parents who choose to live together to share the responsibility of childcaring are further penalised in the tax code where their tax credits can potentially fall by €4,740," he said.
The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform created 24,600 childcare places between 2000 and 2004, while €500 million will be spent on the programme between 2000 and the end of next year.
However, Mr Bruton alleged that the four Dublin local authorities are "at the very bottom" of a league of 33 councils, receiving just €66 per child over three years, compared with €150 in Cork, €184 in Limerick and €231 in Waterford.
"Dublin has again fared extremely poorly in Minister McDowell's latest announcement of €45m to develop new childcare opportunities. In total, Dublin received just €8.6 million out of a total of €45.5 million.
"This investment represents a total of €116 per child in Dublin, while outside of Dublin the average allocation was €182 per child. Dublin is getting less than two-thirds of the allocation in the rest of the country.
"In Dublin city, the total grant for this work over a three-year period came to just €55 per child aged under four, or an average of €66 for all four Dublin local authorities."
