Kildare childcare operator warns of fewer places without State investment
Karen Clince, founder and CEO, Tigers Childcare. Picture: Andres Poveda
FAMILIES in Kildare could face fewer childcare places unless the government matches its push towards €200-a-month childcare with greater State investment, a childcare firm has warned.
Tigers Childcare operates four services across the county, with three in Kilcock and one in Naas, and is one of Ireland’s largest childcare providers, employing more than 640 people across 37 settings, and caring for more than 3,500 children.
Founder Karen Clince welcomed Minister for Children Norma Foley’s call for a “breakthrough budget” on childcare, but warned that progress towards €200-a-month fees must be matched by greater State investment or families risk facing fewer places and declining quality.
The warning follows Minister Foley’s comments that she believes she has support to make a “very significant” advancement towards the Government’s €200-a-month childcare goal in this Budget.
Tigers Childcare is calling for a 20 per cent increase in core funding in Budget 2027, equivalent to an additional €96m based on the current €480m annual allocation.
It is also seeking a national pay scale for early years educators and a fairer controlled fee-adjustment process for services whose fees were frozen at comparatively low historic levels.
Tigers Childcare said the central issue for Government is no longer simply how much parents should pay for childcare, but how the difference between the parental contribution and the actual cost of delivering high-quality childcare will be funded.
It warned that pressures across the sector, particularly in recruitment and retention, will increasingly translate into reduced capacity and fewer childcare places without increased investment.
Ms Clince was among childcare sector representatives who met Minister Foley last month to discuss the department’s sustainability Review for 2026/27 - a mechanism through which services charging very low fees can apply for permission to increase them.
However, the new regional fee bands used to determine which services can enter the process are up to 14 per cent lower than the corresponding 2024 rates following a change in calculation methodology.
