A Cork creche owner and childcare provider representative says there has been no agreement to cap childcare fees.
John Bowman was speaking after it was announced that creches would be able to avail of a new scheme to boost staff pay in return for capping fees.
The Irish Independent reports the Children's Minister Roderic O'Gorman has secured up to €100 million for the scheme, which it's expected will be announced in the Budget this afternoon.
The Early Years sector say they have been struggling to recruit staff since before the pandemic due to the large responsibility of minding children coupled with low wages.
Speaking to RedFM News, John Bowman from BEL Childcare says an agreement on fee capping could be years away.
"There's been a lot of negotiations going on over the last 12 months involving various stakeholder groups, and there's been all sorts of suggestions about how the sector is going to be funded, and what the trade-offs for that funding might possibly.
"But there has been no direct communication or discussion around fee capping, what that will look like, and the amount of investment needed to guarantee sustainability for providers should fee capping come in and be acceptable to the sector."
