Mayo TD calls for significant childcare package to tackle affordability and rural capacity
Fine Gael TD for Mayo, Keira Keogh and Chair of the Children and Equality Committee, has called for a significant childcare package in Budget 2027, warning that reducing fees for parents must go hand-in-hand with increasing childcare capacity, supporting the workforce and ensuring private childminders remain part of the sector.
Deputy Keogh raised the issue directly with Minister for Children, Disability and Equality Norma Foley in the Dáil, highlighting the particular challenges facing families in rural communities.
Deputy Keogh said: “Further investment in the National Childcare Scheme is hugely important in reducing the cost of childcare for families, and I want to see continued progress towards the Programme for Government commitment of €200 per month.
“However, a subsidy is of little benefit to a parent who cannot find a childcare place or whose childminder is not registered to participate in the scheme.
“The most recent information available to me is that we have just one registered private childminder in the whole of Mayo. There has been increased participation in the pre-registration course, which is welcome, but that has not yet translated into the level of registrations we need.
“With the September 2027 mandatory registration deadline approaching, we need to respond to childminders who are reluctant to register and seek to deliver what practical and financial supports that would make a difference. I welcome the Minister confirming to me that a review is already under way and that it will consider what further supports can be provided.”
Deputy Keogh said engagement must also reach childminders who may not currently have a voice through representative organisations. “I have spoken to childminders who are genuinely concerned about what registration will mean for them. At a public meeting I held, some were reluctant even to attend. I believe there is merit in confidential or anonymous engagement so that Government hears directly from those childminders too.
“We need to encourage people into registered childminding, but equally importantly, we cannot inadvertently drive experienced childminders out of the sector at a time when families are already struggling to find places.”
Deputy Keogh also raised concerns about how the State-led childcare model will operate in rural Ireland. “State-led childcare has the potential to be a game-changer, particularly in areas of unmet need. But we cannot simply rely on community and voluntary boards to deliver it everywhere.
“The reality in rural Mayo is that very often the same people are already volunteering on the board of the local childcare service, the GAA club, the community centre and other organisations. In larger urban areas there may be a much wider pool of people with professional expertise in areas such as HR, accountancy or law who can take on these governance roles.
“We need a model that recognises that difference and doesn’t place yet another responsibility on a small number of volunteers who are already doing enormous work for their communities.”
Deputy Keogh said workforce pressures must also form a central part of Budget 2027 discussions. “We cannot talk seriously about expanding childcare without talking about the people delivering it. Pay, recruitment and retention remain major concerns across the sector. “Investment in places has to be accompanied by investment in the workforce needed to staff them.
“I welcome Minister Foley’s confirmation that she is pursuing an ambitious Budget package aimed at reducing costs for parents, supporting providers and the workforce and increasing the availability of places.
“For families in Mayo, we need all of those things to move together. Affordable childcare only works when there is also capacity, whether that’s with a registered childminder, a community provider, or a private provider.”