The group of senior civil servants advising the Government on childcare has commissioned a major economic study on options to improve its availability and affordability.
The report is to advise a special Cabinet sub-committee on childcare later this month on the possibilities available, including tax credits, direct payments, and tax breaks for building and operating creches.
Minister of State with responsibility for children Brian Lenihan has said the study will examine the cost effectiveness of the various options and whether they would enhance supply or make childcare more affordable.
It will also identify specific geographical areas where the childcare problem is at its most acute.
The study will form the core of a report by a high-level working group of civil servants, headed by the National Children's Office, and will be presented later this month to the sub-committee headed by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.
Mr Lenihan said the group would put forward a range of options that will increase the supply of "early childhood education and care settings". He said the options will also include "measures that make services more affordable".
Mr Lenihan did not outline the options being examined, although he said it would be examining child benefit payments and tax breaks to encourage the supply of places and to make them more affordable.
Last month The Irish Times reported that a series of tax credit and direct payment options developed last year by a key tax advisory group would be re-examined as part of the review.
The six options, including tax credits, social welfare payments, and new child benefits, were costed at between €160 million and €713 million last year.
The study is also expected to examine the current tax-break incentives for the construction of creches, which has not translated into lower creche fees.
Mr Lenihan defended the Government's record on the provision of childcare places, saying that over the last five years the Government has invested €499.3 million, creating 39,900 childcare places by the end of the decade.
He acknowledged, however, that childcare provision in Ireland "continues to be a source of concern", referring to the OECD report on early childhood care which referred to the fragmented nature of policy development, lack of co-ordination and difficulty in identifying the current levels of services or need.
He was speaking in advance of a conference today on childcare in Dublin, organised by Fianna Fáil Senator Mary White.
A Government package on childcare could be announced as early as the next budget in December.