Parents paid an average of €3,210 to place a child in daycare last year, but €520 of this is down to creches charging more than the maximum tariff agreed by the government, national statistics office CBS said on Friday

Almost 75% of parents took their child to a daycare centre last year which charged more than the maximum that the government will fund, the CBS said. Creches are free to charge more but it is then up to parents to pay the difference.

The average cost of daycare per family is €8,950, but most of that – €5,740 – is covered by child benefits. The benefit is income-dependent and varies according to how many children are being looked after.

Parents with one child get 62% of the cost back, while people with three are refunded 68%. The amount of benefit also depends on the type of daycare.

Last year some 700,000 parents benefited from daycare benefits and over a million children were in a creche, playgroup or after-school club, the CBS said.  

Freeze fees

The new cabinet aims to freeze the maximum amount the state will pay for daycare to save €250 million a year while increasing the percentage of each individual bill that it will reimburse to up to 96% of the maximum tariff.

This, ministers say, will actually make daycare cheaper for thousands of families. The plan was put out to consultation earlier this week.