Parents minding their children at home will again miss out as the Government is set to announce a new childcare subsidy scheme.

Proposed new legislation includes subsidies for parents using childminders as well as a framework for properly regulating the informal, child-minding market.

People whose children are in creches are already able to avail of subsidies under the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) but many thousands of parents using childminders are not.

The legislation also includes measures to bolster the enforcement powers of Tusla’s Early Years Inspectorate including the ability to immediately close unregistered childcare services.

There is no centralised registration system for childminders, who typically work in people’s homes, but it is estimated there are 15,000 in Ireland. Fewer than 80 were registered with Tusla as of last September.

At present most childminders are not regulated as a result of an exemption in the Child Care Act.