Fine Gael will offer parents a personal tax credit of 20 per cent childcare expenses per child up to the age of five, if returned to Government following the next General Election.
Launching the proposals this afternoon, Fine Gael leader Mr Michael Noonan said his party would create new childcare places based on capitation grants for childcare providers.
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| Mr Michael Noonan
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"Providing childcare and affordable childcare is fundamental to a civilised society," Mr Noonan said, "and after five years the Government has failed to address these issues in any kind of realistic way."
"It is not fair to promise young people a decent quality of life in a booming Ireland and then to let them down on something as fundamental as childcare," he said.
At the heart of Fine Gael’s childcare programme is the creation of a child-centred community and, secondly, supporting parenting, said Ms Frances Fitzgerald, the party's family affairs spokeswoman.
"The desperate pressure which parents feel while trying to find suitable childcare cannot be allowed to continue," Ms Fitzgerald said.
"The current Government's European Childcare Action Programmeis not delivering in and effective manner which meets the real needs of Irish parents," she said.
"This programme urgently needs to be reviewed for efficiency of delivery."
Amongst the proposals are;
- right to quality pre-schooling
- annual pre-school capitation payment
- after hours use of school premises for childcare
- enhanced tax position for stay at home parents
- free GP care for all children.
The estimated cost of implementing these measures will be €481 million on a current basis and €25 million on a capital basis and will be paid for by sustained growth in the economy which, Mr Noonan said, is expected to rise again after falling to 3½ per cent this year.