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Access to after-school and community employment childcare programmes to be extended

Childrens’ Minister Charlie Flanagan and Tánaiste Joan Burton today announced that the afterschool childcare programme and the community employment childcare programme, will undergo improvements to increase access to the programmes for low income families.

The ASCC programme was first introduced in 2013 and is currently available nationally in all Intreo Centres and Social Welfare Offices providing up to 800 subsidised afterschool childcare places. The CEC programme was introduced in January of this year and provides 1,800 subsidised childcare places to CE participants. The changes to both programmes are due to become available from Monday 14 July 2014.

Minister Flanagan said:

Over the past few years my department has added to our childcare support programmes to assist parents in low income families return to employment. I am delighted that we have been able to work with the Department of Social Protection to support these changes to ensure that the programmes are more accessible and equitable for those eligible to avail of them.

The Tánaiste said:

Getting people back to work is the Government’s number one priority, because all the evidence shows that having a fairly-paid and secure job is the best protection against poverty, and we want to help low income families gain a firm foothold in work and build a better future for themselves and their families. Childcare is a crucial element for families returning to work, or embarking on employment programmes, and these changes are aimed at ensuring that they will get the childcare supports they need to do exactly that.

Read the full press release

here

.