Minister of State with special responsibility for Children Brendan Smith has said working parents on low incomes will be able to access subsidised childcare in community-based childcare facilities under changes to the way the sector is implemented.
The Government announced earlier this year that only parents who were on social welfare and availing of the family income supplement would be eligible for subsidised community-based childcare from next July.
The changes have attracted resistance from childcare providers, parents and politicians who warned that it will reinforce welfare dependency among parents and cause hardship for low income families.
However, The Irish Timesunderstands that Mr Smith will announce a new income threshold next February under which families on low incomes will be able to access subsidised childcare.
The new income threshold, and the level of subsidy available, will be calculated once Government officials have more detailed information on the income profile of parents using the services.
Officials have begun to comb through parent declaration forms which an estimated 40,000 parents were asked to complete in recent weeks.
"Working parents will not be disadvantaged under the new scheme. Any parent who is in employment and on a relatively low income will not suffer as a result of the changes," Mr Smith said. "If anything, those most in need of support will do better under the new system as they will have a higher level of subsidy. In total we're providing a 16 per cent increase in funding next year for the sector, or €153 million over the next three years."
Mr Smith insisted that the new income threshold was not a U-turn and pointed out that he had stated on numerous occasions since the scheme was announced last July that the impact of the changes would be clearly monitored and adjusted, if necessary.
Community-based not-for-profit childcare facilities were established in recent years in disadvantaged areas as a way of providing affordable childcare. Much of the funding came from the EU, however, the Government will take over funding the sector from next year.
Mr Smith said it was clear the existing funding structure for the community childcare system was not operating as fairly or as equitably as possible.
"It was a clear condition of staffing grants that a tiered fee structure was to be charged to parents based on income, however, this has not always been the case," he said.
The new system will ensure that greater numbers of children from disadvantaged backgrounds will be able to avail of affordable childcare, in accordance with the original aim of the community-based sector, he added.
Mr Smith also argued that the new system would help promote a social mix in a better way than the current system. At present subsidised care is only available in community-based childcare services in disadvantaged areas.
Individual community childcare service providers will begin to receive notification over the coming weeks that they have been approved for continued funding under the current regime until July 2008, he said.
