The new €75m support package for the childcare sector should allow many to reopen without increased charges for parents.

The Association of Childcare Professionals (ACP) has given a cautious welcome to the package, announced by the Minister for Children Katherine Zappone earlier today.

The plan will allow childcare services to continue to avail of the Temporary Wage Subsidy Childcare Scheme (TWSCS), while also accessing grants for renovations, PPE and deep cleaning.

Providers can access the funding by entering into a contract guaranteeing they won’t charge more than they did before the pandemic.

The contract is expected to last for as long as the supports are in place.

On The Hard Shoulder this evening, ACP chairperson Marian Quinn said the plan is “pretty much what we were expecting.”

She said the extension of the TWSCS is the most important thing for the sector.

“For all the staff that were employed in January and February, the State will pay 85% of that wage,” she said.

“So that cuts the bill of a service, potentially, by 50% so if they are at a reduced capacity of children, that is going to be offset by not having to pay all of the staff wages.”

She said the issue with the payment is that it is only available for staff who were on the pay roll at the start of the year.

“You have got staff who would not have been on the payroll in January and February – they might have been on illness benefit or reduced hours or maybe they were hired since,” she said.

“They will not be able to avail of the TWSS so the employer will have to pay a full wage for them.

“One of our biggest concerns is that there is a very high staff turnover in normal times in early years and if staff turnover continues, the providers themselves are going to have to get the income to be able to pay staff wages.

“Obviously, they can only get that from parent fees.”

She also noted that sole traders are not able to access the subsidy and will struggle to make enough money to pay themselves a wage.

She said some providers may be left in a situation where they need to hire new staff immediately because staff members may not be able to return.

“They might have their own childcare needs or underlying health conditions and we would have concerns that some places may not have enough staff to be able to meet the demand,” she said.

Ms Quinn said parents will grow more confident about bringing their children back to childcare as time goes by and they see the new system at work.