Early childcare payments for up to 12,000 non-resident children of foreign nationals in Ireland will be €9.5 million, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern told the Dáil.
Mr Ahern said that payment of the scheme would begin in September and the estimated cost for 2006 was unlikely to exceed €1.5 million.
He told Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, who raised the issue, that "based on all estimates and trends, on claims awaiting decision as well as ongoing claims, it is estimated there may be approximately 12,000 non-resident children under the age of six with an entitlement this year."
The Department of Social and Family Affairs estimated that only 10 per cent of claims would be dealt with this year.
Mr Kenny said that when the Government first announced the new early childcare scheme, which would include children not resident in Ireland, the Taoiseach had said the scheme would cost about €1 million.
Mr Ahern said that based on current figures there could be claims for 1,600 children. But he added that "since all deputies gave much publicity to the issue, claims for non-Irish residents in Ireland are being received at a rate of about 275-300 a week. Until then, the figures were quite low." He added: "Although the scheme operated for 30 years, no one used it. However, after members published it, they started to send in applications."
Billy Timmins (FG, Wicklow) said the Minister of State for Children had issued letters to every family in the State.
