Increase in number of childcare providers investigated for possible overcharging

There has been a steady increase in the number of childcare providers under investigation for possible overcharging of parents since 2024. It comes in advance of a new audit process designed to identify creches that might be flouting their core funding rules and charging parents more than their 2021 agreed fee freeze. This September, for the first time, childcare providers will have to have their 2026/2027 fees approved by the Department of Children “to confirm adherence to the fee freeze as part of the core funding rules”.Under a 2022 agreement with the Government, childcare providers who received such additional funding promised to freeze their fees at 2021 levels. Until now, no formal auditing of childcare fees had been done at Government level, and the Department of Children only became aware of childcare providers who may have been overcharging if, or when, a parent made a complaint. READ MORESince 2024, a National Fee Review Team within the department has been tasked with investigating potential breaches of frozen fees following such complaints. According to documents released under Freedom of Information, the number of such complaints has increased since 2024. For the 2023/2024 year, there were only three such reviews, with just one finding a breach of core funding rules. The number of reviews increased to 17 in 2024/2025, with documents showing that at least seven childcare providers were caught overcharging parents. Only two were found to have “no breach” of their core funding rules. Another three services closed entirely or dropped out of core funding, and five other fee reviews did not state whether a breach had been found or not. The number of investigations increased to 20 in 2025/2026. No outcome had yet been recorded for these investigations. One review, recorded in documents held by the Department of Children, stretched from 2023 to 2026 without finding a breach. The department said that, since fee review investigations were first set up in 2024, there have been “59 fee reviews whereby an initiator has raised a potential breach of fee controls. In the last two years the number of reviews initiated annually has been relatively steady.”A number of childcare providers have complained that the amount of Government funding they receive under the core funding arrangement is not sustainable and has not met inflation, prompting some creches to threaten to withdraw from the scheme so they can hike their prices. Minister for Children Norma Foley had said that, as of the end of July, only five providers had left the core funding scheme in 2025/2026, while 15 had joined.The department said childcare services that feel their fees “may not be sufficient to sustain their business can access other supports while remaining in core funding”. “For example, eligible services could apply for controlled fee increases in 2024. A new process for controlled fee increases was recently announced,” a spokesman said.