Minister Foley announces details of maximum fee caps alongside over €480 million for Core Funding Year 5

Minister for Children, Disability, and Equality, Norma Foley today announced the details of the new maximum fee caps for early learning and childcare services participating in Core Funding.

The new maximum fee caps will lower the maximum fees that can be charged by new and existing early learning and childcare services receiving Core Funding from the state.

Under the new maximum fee caps, the highest possible upfront cost for a typical full day place of 45 hours per week will drop from around €198 per week to €183.70 per week. with universal subsidies under the National Childcare Scheme. Higher subsidies are available for many parents, depending on their level of income and the age and number of children in their family.

This new measure represents a significant advance in standardising fees across the sector, which has historically seen different rates charged by providers for the same level of provision.

The move will come into effect in September and will be accompanied by record State funding of €480 million this year for over 4,600 providers in the state’s Core Funding scheme. Core Funding supports providers to meet their staffing and general operating costs in return for maintaining a fee freeze for parents and, where applicable, observing maximum fee caps as well.

Approximately 12% of services will be required to reduce at least one fee. However, the majority of parents are already paying below the new maximum fees and will continue to benefit from the fee freeze introduced in 2022.

Welcoming the announcement, Minister Foley said:

The increased allocation includes up to €45 million in ring-fenced funding to support increases in the minimum rates of pay for early years educators and school-age childcare practitioners. These rates will be the subject of negotiations at the Joint Labour Committee, the independent body responsible for negotiating minimum pay rates in the sector.

Minister Foley continued:

Minister of State for Disability, Emer Higgins, said:

€21.4 million in full-year funding was secured in Budget 2026 to support providers in adhering to Core Funding fee management conditions. This brand-new funding will be distributed to all Partner Services through an enhanced Base Rate and will allow most services to maintain the fee freeze while offsetting a portion of the fee income reduction experienced by the minority of services that will be impacted by maximum fee caps.

For more information, please visit: Core Funding

ENDS

Table 1: Core Funding Fee Caps

Table 2: Core Funding Base Rates (by the State)

Prior to Core Funding by the State there was no comparable scheme/s that was underpinned by the ‘staffed capacity’ principle which is fundamental to the Core Funding scheme. Set out below is the aggregate monthly base rate per child place offered (on a full time, part time, sessional and school age basis), which varies by age. This excludes funding for graduate premiums and the Staffing Funding Additional Contribution, as well as the targeted measures.

Table 3: Year 5 targeted measures in 2026/2027

Table 4: Core Funding Base Rates (Hourly Rate Paid Per Place Hour) in 2026/2027

Ring-fenced funding to support improvements in staff pay

For 2025/2026, the Department secured €45 million in a full year, to support employers to meet the costs of further increases to the minimum rates of pay in the sector.

This facilitated the development of a new funding element - the Staff Funding Additional Contribution (SFAC) to centre-based services. This measure was designed to support Core Funding Partner Services to meet the the costs of increasing rates of pay because of new Employment Regulation Orders negotiated by the Joint Labour Committee.

For Programme Year 5, an additional funding allocation - up to a maximum of €45 million - has been secured to support further Employment Regulations Orders from September 2026/2027, contingent on negotiations by the independent Joint Labour Committee. A second grant will be designed to distribute the new funding. The calculation of the new rates will include Graduate Lead Educator hours.