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Call for parents to receive tax credit for directly employing their own childminder

There’s a call for parents to receive a tax credit for directly employing their own childmi...
Newstalk
Newstalk

14.46 2 Jan 2018


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Call for parents to receive ta...

Call for parents to receive tax credit for directly employing their own childminder

Newstalk
Newstalk

14.46 2 Jan 2018


Share this article


There’s a call for parents to receive a tax credit for directly employing their own childminder in the home.

Two Fine Gael TDs are tabling the proposal - which would be an 'opt in policy' - arguing that it would mean more children could be looked after in their own environment.

It would mean the childminder would receive the benefits of a worker, instead of informal arrangements such as 'cash in hand'.

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Deputy Kate O’Connell, who has put forward the proposal alongside colleague Maria Bailey, suggests such an arrangement would also suit many parents.

She explained: "For a lot of people, a formalised creche setting doesn't work. 

"If you take people who work nine to five, obviously it does work. But if you have a situation where somebody is perhaps a guard; or a nurse who works nights; or perhaps not living where they grew up, so they have no family support... the formalised creche setting does not work for those people."

She added: "If you have maybe four children under four or five, it's not feasible to load up four children into a car, and get them to a childminder or formalised setting in the morning.

"Also the price of that... a creche in Dublin is around the €1,000 mark. Down the country, it can be somewhere around €650-750."

However, Frances Byrne from Early Childhood Ireland says the proposal is way ahead of its time and more public investment is needed first.

She observed: "Ireland has been historical well behind in terms of public investment in early years, and that's what needs to improve.

"The answer from our point of view is not a tax break - that is not the way to go. We're not there yet - it would be a long, long time before we can even consider that. There's a lot more investment that needs to be made."

Reporting by Stephanie Grogan & Stephen McNeice


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