Childcare costs could be reduced by hundreds of euro in measures being considered to address the rising cost of living in the budget.
Children's Minister Roderic O'Gorman is working on proposals to reduce creche fees and increase pay for those who work in the sector.
Making childcare more affordable is a key priority for the Coalition.
“Our aim in this year’s budget is to substantially cut the cost of childcare for all parents,” Mr O’Gorman told the Irish Examiner.
"We are acutely aware of the expense for parents, particularly if parents have more than one child in childcare. So this will be a very significant measure to cut the cost of living for families."
A major package to deal with inflation is being considered by Government. Other priorities along with childcare costs include measures to bring down the costs of third-level education, healthcare and public transport.
Childcare costs
Parents of toddlers are paying on average €746 a month on childcare.
A survey of the average cost of full time childcare for a 24-month-old toddler, found parents in Dublin are paying the most at €1,276.
That’s followed by counties Wicklow, Cork and Kildare who are paying more than €850 for childminding services.
At the other end of the scale are counties Leitrim, Monaghan and Longford - where the average rate is less than €630.
Managing director of Investwise David Quinn has worked out how much a parent would have to earn to cover these costs, if one parent is earning a salary of €40,000.
Mr Quinn told Newstalk: "For one child in Dublin that was about €15,000 a year. I was assuming the first spouse was earning €45,000 just to pick a number but €15,000, allowing for tax credits and certain benefits that way, would cover the cost of one child in a Dublin creche.
"That comes down to about €10,000 for someone in Longford which had the cheapest creche fees in the study."
