Government spending on childcare and early education should more than double to at least 1 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), an Oireachtas committee has recommended.
The Committee on Justice and Equality has advocated a series of measures aimed at improving childcare, and said that the central focus on childcare should be on services and education for the under-fives.
Spending on early childcare is currently at 0.4 per cent of GDP, says the report, and this should be increased to 1 per cent, which would still be less than half of other European countries, such as Denmark, where 2.4 per cent of GDP is spent on childcare by the State.
The Oireachtas committee report says there should also be a universal increase in child benefit to offset the increasing costs of raising children.
In a report following hearings into childcare last month, the committee has also advised that the Government should follow a 10-year strategy on childcare laid out in a recent report by the National Economic and Social Forum (NESF).
The strategy recommended a series of measures, including the doubling of maternity leave over the next five years to 26 weeks, the development of a national early-age development programme, the development of comprehensive childcare networks, and standards for childcare workers and providers.
Yesterday's report, written for the committee by Fine Gael TD Jim O'Keeffe, also says that responsibility for developing childcare services should be moved from the Department of Justice to either the Department of Health or the Department of Education.
The "important role of stay-at-home parents should be acknowledged and their needs should be addressed to a greater degree".
Parents should also receive a separate payment to child benefit. This payment should be in the form of cash or vouchers for quality-approved childcare services.
There should be a "firm commitment" to supporting disadvantaged children and those with special needs, and there should be State support for early childhood education in the 12 months before children begin primary school.
In his foreword to the report, Mr O'Keeffe said there was "a developing national consensus that childcare must be placed at centre stage and is deserving of significant financial investment".