Govt must act on childcare admin fees
Govt must act on childcare admin fees - The Labour Party
Labour leader and Dublin Bay South TD Ivana Bacik has urged Government to act to end the practice of early year facilities charging prospective parents a non-refundable administrative fee to secure a space for their child.
Deputy Bacik said:
“On top of extortionate childcare fees and a near total lack of availability, parents now also are being further penalised by some childcare providers in charging a purported administrative deposit.
“Where a child’s application for a crèche place is withdrawn at an early stage, no administrative costs could reasonably be incurred. So, it follows that parents’ deposits for crèche places cannot reasonably be withheld.
“There has to be a way to end this practice or cap the fees that can be demanded on a non-refundable basis. I am calling on Government to ensure this practice is discontinued and to deliver a universal childcare scheme, to provide access to high quality childcare for all parents and children.”
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For Written Answer on : 24/06/2025
Question Number(s): 712 Question Reference(s): 33736/25
Department: Children, Disability and Equality
Asked by: Ivana Bacik T.D.
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QUESTION To ask the Minister for Children; Disability and Equality if she is aware of the practice of early years facilities charging prospective parents a non-refundable administrative fee in circumstances (details supplied); if the practice is permissible under the core funding agreement; and if she will make a statement on the need to transition childcare to being universally provided and accessible.
(Details Supplied) Constituent sought full time creche space at 5 weeks gestation. Her first 10 choices did not have space, so she continued working through the list of options – expanding my search radius and increasing my budget. Eventually, she found somewhere. Despite giving >3 months’ notice (and in circumstances where providers are oversubscribed anyway), providers are retaining ~250e of the 1600e deposit as an ‘administrative fee’, as outlined in the contract that we had to sign in order to secure the space. “I have not filled out a single form in relation to my baby starting there in September, and so I can’t speculate as to how this administrative fee has been incurred. The same will happen again if we are lucky enough to be offered a space in a creche that is closer to home for us – we will forfeit a part of our deposit, even if we give >3 months notice and even if we have yet to fill out a single form. Knowing about the undersupply issue in the capital, I feel this is an area the government should look to legistate in, while we wait for bigger changes to come in the childcare space.”
REPLY Improving access to quality and affordable early learning and childcare is a key priority of Government. This includes reviewing deposit rules across each early learning and childcare scheme.
Under Core Funding, in which over 92% of the sector participate, providers agree that all deposits relating to the 2024/2025 Programme Year must be returned to the parent/ guardian once the child’s registration is approved on the Hive or within four weeks of the child taking up the place, whichever is sooner. Additionally they must agree that they will not charge any non-refundable deposits (including administration/registration fees/waiting list fees, etc.) to parents/guardians in respect of their early learning and childcare service for which the deposit was paid.
In instances where a child does not take up a place for which a deposit was paid, there is no onus on a provider, under Early Childhood Care and Education Programme (ECCE) and Core Funding rules, to return the deposit to the parent/guardian.
In relation to deposits for ECCE, as per the rules governing the ECCE programme an Early Learning and Care service provider may charge a refundable booking deposit to hold an ECCE place for a child. The maximum deposit a provider may charge is equivalent to four weeks’ ECCE payment.
The ECCE deposit must be returned in full to the parent/guardian once the child’s registration is approved by Pobal.
The rationale for allowing ECCE providers to charge an ECCE deposit is to deter parents from putting their child’s name down with multiple ECCE providers. If the option to collect a deposit is removed there is a risk of children not turning up when the ECCE programme begins, other children not being offered that place and/or providers not being able to meet minimum numbers requirement for ECCE
The National Childcare Scheme (NCS) does not stipulate any rules regarding deposits except in relation to sponsored children, where it is not permitted to charge deposits.
Deposits in these instances are subject to a local agreement between the provider and the parent/guardian.
For the 2025/2026 Programme Year, there will be no changes to the Deposit Rules under Core Funding, and deposits must be returned to the parent/guardian once the child’s registration is approved on the Early Years Hive or within four weeks of the child taking up the place, whichever is sooner.
My Department are committed to ongoing engagement on this matter and will consider wider changes to deposit rules for the 2026/2027 programme year.
The new Programme for Government commits to review and increase Core Funding, ensure that providers’ fees are open, transparent and equitable and readily available to parents.
An evaluation of the first year of Core Funding and the development of an evaluation framework for Core Funding is currently underway. This project will examine the early implementation of Core Funding and make recommendations for future evaluations of the grant. Findings from the project are expected in Quarter 4 2025.
Additionally, my Department funds 30 City/County Childcare Committees (CCC), which provide support and assist families and early learning and childcare providers. The network of 30 CCCs across the country are in a position to assist in identifying vacant places in services for children and families who need them and engage proactively with services to explore possibilities for expansion among services, particularly where there is unmet need.
Parents experiencing difficulty in relation to their early learning and childcare needs should contact their local CCC for assistance.