The Early Child Supplement (ECS), which is operated by the Office of the Minister for Children and was introduced in December 2005, is a non-taxable payment made to all parents for each child less than 6 years of age already in receipt of child benefit. It is paid on a quarterly basis, and the new increased rate of €275 for each eligible child was issued on April 14.

“The Early Child Supplement is a central element in the Government’s strategy to provide parents with assistance in meeting the costs of childcare. Coupled with very significant increases in Child Benefit since 1997, parents are now being given the means to make real choices when it comes to providing affordable childcare for their young children”, Minister for Children Brendan Smith said.

“Today the 10% increase announced in the budget goes out for eligible children. These new rates mean that a typical family with two children under 6 years of age, will receive direct payments of €6,148 this year, from the ECS and Child Benefit. By any measure, this is a considerable assistance to most families towards the cost of childcare”, the Minister added.

“As Minister for Children, I am proud of the great improvements which have been made in recent years in providing young families with affordable and quality childcare. As well as assisting parents with direct payments through the ECS and Child Benefit, massive progress continues to be made in creating new places under Government funded schemes.

"This is reflected in the fact that from 2000-2007, the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme (EOCP) created over 40,000 new places, from a Government investment which topped €500 million. Its successor programme, the National Childcare Investment Programme (NCIP) has a budget of €575 million and is well on target to have created a further 50,000 places by 2010”, the Minister concluded.