A €300 grant for parents of new babies, tax credits for childcare expenses and pre-school grants are the key features in Fine Gael's childcare policy launched yesterday.
The €500 million package would be funded from general tax revenue buoyancy, Fine Gael leader, Mr Michael Noonan, said.
"It is not fair to promise young people a decent quality of life in a booming Ireland and then to let them down on something as fundamental as childcare," he said.
Fine Gael has promised a personal tax credit equal to 20 per cent of vouched childcare expenses, with a ceiling of €5,000 for parents of children under five-years-old. This would cost an estimated €125 million a year. Families with just one earner would receive "significant, additional tax credits" to narrow the gap between two-earner and one earner families.
An annual pre-school capitation grant of up to €1,200 a child would be paid to service providers to promote the development of quality pre-school.
Ms Frances Fitzgerald, Fine Gael spokeswoman on the family said every three-year-old would have the right of access to quality pre-schooling under the Fine Gael plan.
The €300 infancy grant would be payable to all parents and help reduce the bill of €1,000-€1,800 incurred by parents of new babies.
