Children’s Minister James Reilly has ruled out tax breaks worth up to €5,000 a year for struggling families whose children are in crèches because it may only benefit the rich and be wiped out by linked increases in facility costs.
Children’s Minister James Reilly has ruled out tax breaks worth up to €5,000 a year for struggling families whose children are in crèches because it may only benefit the rich and be wiped out by linked increases in facility costs.
The deputy leader of Fine Gael outlined the Government stance, and again said a second free pre-school year will take place before 2020 despite not saying when, during the first night of a two-day Dáil debate on childcare services.
Speaking at an evening debate put forward by Fianna Fáil, the party’s children’s spokesperson Robert Troy said there is a vital need to focus on the “critical sector” which he said the Fine Gael-Labour coalition has “ignored”.
The Longford-Westmeath TD said the Government needs to provide “critical action” to assist families who are spending up to €16,000 a year — the “equivalent of a second mortgage” — on crèche services every year.
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