childcare

Government has established a special unit to investigate what a ‘nationalised’ childcare model might look like

Budget 2025: Increases in funding for early learning and childcare ‘utterly insufficient’, say providers

Labour says budget was ‘all glitter and full of shiny gimmicks’; Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has said she ‘wants to see a full restoration’ of barristers fees

Record interest among readers in wide-ranging live online post-budget question and answer session

Dominic Coyle of The Irish Times and Beryl Power from PwC answered readers’ questions in our post-budget live blog which has now finished. You can read back on all the questions and answers below

The final cost of living package will now come in at just shy of €2 billion, well in excess of the €1.5bn expected

Budget 2025: Government wants Ireland ‘to be one of the best countries in the world in which to be a child’, says Minister

Inside Business podcast with Ciarán Hancock

USC cut to 3%; extra credits for renters; 10,000 new social homes to built and free public transport for under-9s

Extension of the Help to Buy scheme to 2029, and extra tax on vulture funds expected

Judge notes ‘draconian’ law could have seen Padraig O’Connor, operator of Little Puddles Childcare in Glenageary, lose registration if convicted

National Women’s Council and 25 other organisations want pilot programme established

Newly-constructed Carrickmines facility occupies prime location just off M50 motorway

Gardaí and Tusla conducting investigations concerning reported physical, verbal and emotional abuse of toddlers

Inside Politics podcast with Hugh Linehan

Taoiseach signals move away from reliance on private sector care while insisting Coalition Government will last full term

Outside basic welfare payments, there are two schemes specifically focused on easing the financial burden on parents of young children

The increased cost of raising children is one of the main reasons why people are having fewer of them, says the World Economic Forum

Prosecution stemmed from inspection of Little Puddles Childcare in Glenageary two years ago

Overall, some €1.1bn of public money will go into the sector this year but not everyone is happy

Costs down by around 50 per cent for average parent through various programmes now introduced, Minister says

We talk about children’s best interests, but so far, there has not yet been the political will to prioritise them

‘HELP!’ might be the subject line of my next email to the department

In his first big interview as Taoiseach, the Fine Gael leader hints at his ‘big ideas’ on childcare, housing and infrastructural projects

National Women’s Council calls on Government to establish a pilot scheme in the budget with a view to taking direct control of provision over the longer term

Some parents have been told their fees will now increase by almost a third at the start of next month

Some operators have been questioning aspects of the system and claim the effects of fee freezing and staffing and regulation compliance pose challenges

Pre-budget submission by union calls for €100m-plus to facilitate better minimum pay rates and enhanced premiums for qualified childcare workers

About 600 children attend the group’s five facilities in Dublin

Long waiting lists and rising creche fees are just some of the challenges facing parents with young children

A little imagination and a bit of cash could stop a childcare problem turning into a crisis

Skyrocketing rents, house prices and childcare costs have all combined to mean that people can’t afford more than one or two kids

Childhood Services Ireland‘s budget submission calls for removal of childcare provider fee freeze and 35% increase in Core Funding

Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman signalled his openness to the idea after a debate on childcare provision

Department of Children to allow service providers to raise prices if charging below average rates

Insufficient places for children is a new challenge, says Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman

The housing crisis, difficulties of balancing parenting with paid work, declining marriage rates and the limitations of assisted fertility all have a negative effect

As anyone using childcare amid a dire shortage of places knows, if your creche place disappears suddenly, your job might too

Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies Ireland seeks Budget measures that reflect the true cost of childcare and provide flexible or part-time places to fit work patterns

Parents are advised to lay clear ground rules before hiring a babysitter and to do a paid trial run