Minister Foley publishes two new action plans for the early learning and care and school-age childcare sector
- Foilsithe: 17 Nollaig 2025
- An t-eolas is déanaí: 17 Nollaig 2025
Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Norma Foley, today published two new action plans for the early learning and care and school-age childcare sector.
The ‘Shaping the Future: Early Years Action Plan’ commits to actions in 2026 to make services more affordable, accessible and improve quality.
The ‘Simplify and Support: Action Plan for Simplification’ will streamline administration and regulation, helping providers, educators, practitioners and parents navigate the system more easily.
Shaping the Future: Early Years Action Plan
‘Shaping the Future’ delivers on the Programme for Government commitment to publish a detailed Action Plan to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early learning and care and school-age childcare system.
The plan adopts a phased approach. Phase 1 actions in 2026 allow for rapid improvements, and there will be a broad public consultation process to guide Phase 2 actions for 2027 - 2029.
Key Phase 1 actions for 2026 include:
Affordability
- Reducing highest fees charged to parents across the country by lowering the maximum fees that Core Funding Partner Services can charge from September 2026. These new, lower maximum fee levels will be announced in 2026 when full financial returns from providers have been analysed.
- Reducing costs for lower-income families by lowering the income thresholds for the National Childcare Scheme. The lower income threshold will be increased from €26,000 to €34,000 and the upper income threshold will be increased from €60,000 to €68,000. The multiple child discount reduces parents’ reckonable income for the Income Assessed subsidy, so for example, the parents of 3 children with income of €78,000 would have the multiple child discount of €11,000 applied, thereby bringing their reckonable income down to €67,000 which is within the new thresholds.
- These changes will benefit almost 47,000 families by providing them with additional subsidies. It will ensure that families with incomes below the relative income poverty line receive the maximum subsidies from September 2026.
Access
- Increase supply through investment in State-led provision as well as co-funding the expansion of existing providers.
- Introduce a regulatory requirement for services to publish their admissions policies.
Achievement of Quality
- Provide ring-fenced funding of up to €15 million from September 2026 (or up to €45 million over a full programme year) to help providers improve staff wages, supporting staff recruitment and retention.
- Introduce comprehensive regulations for School-Age Childcare services as part of a wider revision of regulations.
- Open applications for the Nurturing Skills Learner Fund 2026 to support upskilling of early years educators to achieve degree-level qualifications.
Regulatory reforms, including review of Childminding Regulations; introduction of comprehensive School-Age Childcare regulations; and simplification of regulatory requirements while supporting the quality of provision.
Welcoming the publication, Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Norma Foley, said:
“I’m pleased to launch phase one of the ‘Shaping the Future’ Action Plan for Early Years, which sets out an ambitious process of reform to benefit children, families, and those working in the early learning and care and school-age childcare sector.
In recent years, we have made substantial progress with public funding increasing from €638 million in 2020 to more than €1.5 billion next year. The number of children benefiting from early learning and care and school-age childcare has increased substantially and is up this year by a further 5%, rising from around 234,000 children in 2024 to 245,000 now.
I am pleased to say that there are 4,559 services signed up to Core Funding, a 5 per cent increase on this time last year. This is the highest number of Partner Services in Core Funding at any point since the scheme was launched in 2022 and the number continues to grow.
But we need to continue to do more in terms of affordability, accessibility and achievement of quality across early learning and care and school-age childcare. Families need affordable and accessible early learning and care and school-age childcare services. Early years educators and school-age childcare practitioners need wages and working conditions that match the professional nature of the work they do. Children need services that are high quality.
I am committed to working closely with everyone in early learning and care and school-age childcare to address these important objectives. Phase one of the action plan will have an immediate impact on affordability with new, lower maximum fee changes for families paying the highest prices and higher subsidies for lower income families.
There will be an intensive public consultation next year for phase two of the Action Plan before embarking on a series of major reforms - designed to achieve the commitment to reduce parental fees to a maximum of €200 per month over the lifetime of the Government, using a combination of National Childcare Scheme subsidies and fee-control measures.”
Phase 2 actions will be informed by broad public consultation undertaken in the first half of 2026, as well as additional data-gathering and analysis. Phase 2 actions will be published later in 2026.
Minister Foley also published Simplify and Support – the Action Plan for Simplification to deliver on the Programme for Government commitment to reduce administration and simplify regulation in the sector. She said:
“I’m also pleased to publish Simplify and Support, Action Plan for Simplification, which sets out the steps we will take – in the short, medium and long term - to reduce administration and simplify regulatory requirements in this sector.
I am aware providers, early years educators and school-age childcare practitioners currently spend a considerable amount of time on administrative tasks and regulatory requirements, which is leading to stress and diverting resources from the provision of high-quality early learning and care and school-age childcare. I am aware also that some parents report issues accessing State supports.
We are going to ensure administrative and regulatory requirements in the sector are simple, transparent and proportionate while also delivering the highest standards of child safety, high-quality services and accountability for taxpayers’ money.”
Key measures which will be delivered under the Action Plan for Simplification include:
- a single application process for supports under the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) replacing separate application processes – for AIM, AIM Plus and AIM non-term
- a single, long-term CHICK - the unique code used to claim reduced early learning and childcare costs from an approved provider under the National Childcare Scheme - to replace the existing annual CHICK
- a commitment to upgrade the digital system to improve efficiency and access for all stakeholders.
Notes to Editor
The ‘Shaping the Future: Early Years Action Plan’ can be accessed here.
The ‘Simplify and Support: Action Plan for Simplification’ can be accessed here.
Case Examples:
Case study 1:
Family based in Cork County and have one 2-year-old child attending creche for 45 hours a week, and one school-age child attending for 20 hours per week.
Their gross fees are €320 per week and their current out of pocket costs are €107.10 with NCS subsidies.
Their gross household income is €45,500, their reckonable income for the NCS Income Assessment process is now €40,000, as it is reduced by the increased 2-child multiple child discount of €5,500.
With the updated NCS thresholds, their new out of pocket cost per week is €72.40.
Their current copayment will be reduced by €34.70 per week or €1,804 per year.
Case Study 2
Family 2 are based in Co Laois and have 3 children. They have a 1-year-old and 2-year-old child attending creche for 45 hours a week, and one school-age child attending for 20 hours per week. Their gross fees are €450 per week and their current out of pocket costs are €193.80 with NCS subsidies.
Their gross household income is €66,000, their reckonable income for the NCS Income Assessment process is now €55,000, as it is reduced by the increased 3+ child multiple child discount of €11,000.
With the updated NCS thresholds, their new out of pocket cost per week is €125.70. Their current copayment will be reduced by €68.10 per week or €3,541 per year.