After-school and childcare support to be extended – Humphreys

Fine Gael TD for Cavan/Monaghan, Heather Humphreys, has welcomed the announcement by Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Charlie Flanagan TD, that the Afterschool Childcare (ASCC) programme and the community employment childcare (CEC) programme, will undergo improvements to increase access for low income families.  

“The central goal of this Government has been to get people back to work and to support people in entering the jobs market. Childcare is a huge factor in facilitating this move and it is essential that families receive the support they need.

“The ASCC and the CEC programmes both provide essential childcare support for families, but it has been recognised that there are areas where improvements can, and should, be made. I am pleased to see that Minister Flanagan has been proactive in making the necessary changes.

“Up until now, under the ASCC programme, support was provided for families entering employment. While this was of major assistance to those affected, there were people on employment programmes or those increasing their employment who were left unassisted. I am pleased that this change will mean support will be provided for all of these families.

“One-parent Families will also benefit, they will be able to work part time or to take part in an employment programme, and still retain part of their One Parent Family (OPF) payment.

“Minister Flanagan has also responded to calls from families to include a pick-up service in the ASCC programme. New subsidised after-school childcare places, with a pick-up service at no additional cost to the customer, will now be available and the additional cost of these places will be funded by the Department through an increased subsidy to the childcare provider.  

“For families taking part in Community Employment (CE) schemes, they will now receive full support for children in primary school, under the newly named Community Employment childcare programme.   This programme was introduced in Budget 2014 and is expanding to provide subsidised childcare places for CE participants with primary school children aged up to 13 years of age, increasing from the current age limit of 5 years.  

“On top of the extra provisions being made available, it has been confirmed that the contribution from parents for the ASCC programme has been reduced to €15, the same as the CEC programme.”