Parents will pay €200 a month for childcare under a Sinn Féin government, according to the party's new plan.
Sinn Féin said it can deliver quality childcare for all who need it for €10 a day per child at a cost of €345m to the exchequer.
Party leader Mary Lou McDonald said that for far too long, the cost of childcare was prohibitive.
She said matters have disimproved in recent years and crèche fees are often described as being like a second mortgage.
Ms McDonald quoted recent research by government agency Pobal that showed creche fees average around €800 per month per child, and in some cases, significantly more.
All parents should have access to childcare for a low rate, Ms McDonald said.
She added that high childcare fees pose a significant barrier to women in the workforce and also exacerbate child poverty.
Sinn Féin’s spokesperson on children Claire Kerrane said the party would also support better wages for early years educators – citing SIPTU’s recent request for an extra €1.50 an hour.
Ms Kerrane said an urgent review of core funding for creches was required, as it is not clear at the moment where government funding is going.
She said childminders registered with Tusla would be part of its scheme.
Sinn Féin said it wants to increase parental leave so that all parents have the option of staying at home for the first year of their baby’s life.
Sinn Féin spokesperson on finance Pearse Doherty said the sector needed extra investment and extra capacity.
He said formal childcare providers were under increasing pressure, and for that reason, registered childminders would be included in the party’s scheme.
Mr Doherty said that a child born in 2011, when Fine Gael came to power, was now a teenager, "If they haven’t delivered on childcare in 13 years, we will deliver in five".
Claire Kerrane said she had consulted with various stakeholders including private childcare providers who were "screaming out that we need to build capacity – in some cases they have the extra space but they don’t have the staff", especially for baby and infant rooms, many of which have been forced to close, she said.
Asked if a €1.50 pay rise would be enough to retain childcare workers, Ms Kerrane said the last one was 65c.
She said this would be an initial increase to make sure the minimum wage is €15.15 per hour, which she said would give workers increased confidence in the sector.
"It's a start," said Ms McDonald.
"So many people in this sector are highly trained and highly professional. These are professionals, we entrust them with our most precious thing – they need to be recognised," she added
Ms McDonald said there were other outstanding issues, e.g. childcare workers signing on for the summer.
She said that it was not enough for the Government to look into its heart at this stage and say "manana, manana, manana".
