Parents whose children miss out on childcare because they have to quarantine will not be penalised by a system that ‘fines’ those who fail to turn up for more than a quarter of their booked nursery sessions.

The reintroduction of the measure – planned for January – has angered several parents who benefit from the government scheme which provides free childcare services to working or studying parents.

Each child is entitled to miss 25 per cent of their booked childcare hours per month. If they miss more than that, including for certified medical absence, parents must pay the difference to the childcare centre.

Parents have complained that young children usually miss out on more than 25 per cent of their booked hours as they are constantly getting sick and if they are asked to quarantine, children would miss two weeks of childcare sessions, equivalent to nearly 50 per cent of a month’s sessions.

But a finance ministry spokesperson told Times of Malta that children who are asked to quarantine by the health authorities will have the hours for that period waived from their absence entitlement.

Parents should provide their childcare centre with a copy of the official letter they receive from the health authorities to be exempt.

While parents pointed out that several childcare centres set a minimum number of hours for each child, they are technically free to book as many hours as they require a month.

The government is urging parents not to book more hours than they need because any overbooked hours will be deducted from their absence entitlement.

Parents should review the number of hours they require every month, the spokesperson said.

He added that most absences are not for certified medical absence but, rather, for overbooked hours that the parents did not need in the first place.

Over the past three years, the government has spent over €26 million on the scheme.

Between January and September of this year it spent some €25.8 million, meaning the government paid over €6.4 million to cover the 25 per cent absence entitlement.

The reintroduction of the measure, which had been put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic, is in line with the nationwide easing of restrictive measures and the re-instating of compulsory school attendance this year, the finance ministry spokesperson added.