Rob Hyde

Good morning.

Yeah, sure.

I think the main difference between Germany and Ireland on this front is that Germany's childcare system is mainly funded and organised by the state.

And so the benefit for parents is that it keeps costs much lower for

Whereas in Ireland, if I understand it rightly, there's more reliance on private providers.

And in fairness to that system, it does make childcare, I think, more widely available than Germany, but often more expensive.

There really is.

I mean, you know, Germany's got the 16 federal states and the thing is, each local authority uses its own rules based on income, hours of care, age of the child, and all this leads to a kind of patchwork system of wildly differing rates.

That being said, as you said in your introduction, I think if you compare what the parents have to pay

things still look an awful lot better in Germany.

So if it's a very low income or a zero income family, the state pays everything.

If it's a low income household, so sort of earning under €30,000, they pay up to €200 per month.

If it's middle income, so if you're earning €30,000 to €70,000, you pay around €300 to €400 a month.

And then higher income, so 70,000 upwards, you're paying sort of 400 to 600 euros a month, depending on the city.

Absolute upper limit.

That's right.

That's the state.

The state pays for the facility and for the staff.

The only thing which parents really would have to pay as an additional cost would be for meals.

But then again, it really depends where you are.