New Childcare Action Plans Promise Lower Fees and Simplified Administration From 2026

Minister for Children Norma Foley has published two action plans aimed at making early learning and childcare more affordable and easier to navigate for families and providers across Ireland.

The 'Shaping the Future: Early Years Action Plan' sets out measures to reduce costs for parents, increase childcare places and improve quality standards. A separate 'Simplify and Support' plan will streamline paperwork and regulation for childcare providers, educators and families.

From September 2026, maximum fees charged by Core Funding Partner Services will be reduced, though the exact fee levels will be announced later in 2026 after financial analysis. The National Childcare Scheme income thresholds will also increase, with the lower threshold rising from €26,000 to €34,000 and the upper threshold from €60,000 to €68,000.

Almost 47,000 families will benefit from additional subsidies under the revised thresholds. The multiple child discount will help larger families, with a three-child household earning €78,000 seeing their reckonable income reduced to €67,000, bringing them within the new eligibility limits.

For example, a Cork County family with one two-year-old attending creche for 45 hours weekly and one school-age child attending for 20 hours weekly, earning €48,600 annually, currently pays €103.40 weekly out of pocket. Under the new scheme, this will drop to €72.40, saving them €31 weekly or €1,612 per year.

Minister 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."

She noted that public funding has increased from €638 million in 2020 to more than €1.5 billion next year, with 245,000 children now benefiting from early learning and childcare services, up 5% from 2024.

The plan includes ring-fenced funding of up to €15 million from September 2026, or up to €45 million over a full programme year, to help improve staff wages, supporting recruitment and retention. Services will be required to publish admissions policies, and comprehensive regulations for school-age childcare will be introduced.

The plan also commits to investment in state-led provision and co-funding the expansion of existing providers to increase supply. The Nurturing Skills Learner Fund 2026 will open applications to support upskilling of early years educators to achieve degree-level qualifications.

Regulatory reforms will include a review of Childminding Regulations, introduction of comprehensive school-age childcare regulations, and simplification of regulatory requirements while supporting quality provision.

Minister Foley added:

"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."

She confirmed there will be intensive public consultation next year for phase two of the action plan before embarking on 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 two actions will be informed by broad public consultation undertaken in the first half of 2026, as well as additional data gathering and analysis. Phase two actions will be published later in 2026.

The 'Simplify and Support' plan will introduce a single application process for the Access and Inclusion Model, replacing separate applications for AIM, AIM Plus and AIM non-term. Parents will receive a single, long-term CHICK code for accessing the National Childcare Scheme, rather than renewing annually. Digital systems will be upgraded to improve efficiency.

Minister Foley said:

"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."

There are currently 4,559 services signed up to Core Funding, a 5% increase on last year and the highest number since the scheme launched in 2022. The number of children benefiting has risen from around 234,000 in 2024 to 245,000 now.