The cut in the early childcare supplement payments will come into effect after this week’s election. The supplement which will now be cut in half from €83 to €41.50 was held off from being cut in April and the reduced payment will now come into effect from Monday June 8.
The holding off on the cut until after the elections was purely politically motivated according to Labour Party Town Councillor Harry Barrett, “One can imagine the anger which will be generated the length and breadth of Ireland, when parents of young children under five years old, find that the payment has been reduced from €83 to €41.50 a few days after they have cast their vote. This is a mean political ploy by Fianna Fáil and the Greens to bolster their waning political prospects by concealing from hard pressed parents that they have already cut their children’s Early Childcare Supplement.”
