Dublin creche raising fees after being ordered to refund more than €100,000 to parents
A north Dublin creche franchise is raising fees after being ordered to refund over €100,000 to parents for overcharging. The provider had previously agreed to freeze fees in exchange for state funding but failed to comply with the terms.
Why it matters
This highlights the challenges of oversight in state-funded childcare schemes and the financial burden placed on families.
Parents have been overcharged thousands of euro a year by childcare providers that have hiked fees despite promising to freeze them in exchange for hundreds of millions of euro in public funding, the Department of Children said.
One major north Dublin creche franchise said it faced having to pay back more than €116,000, owed to 37 parents, after the department pointed out it had overcharged by €245 a month.
Some parents were owed more than €4,000 by Charlie’s Childcare in Bayside, one of 11 branches of a preschool and afterschool service operating across north Dublin.
Founders Ronnie Carroll and Elaine Roddy-Carroll also own Isabella’s Childcare in Santry, Sutton and Donabate.
There is no suggestion of overcharging at any of the other Charlie’s Childcare branches nor at any branch of Isabella’s childcare.
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