From Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth
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Minister for Children, Roderic O’Gorman, is today calling on all parents throughout the country using Tusla-registered early learning and childcare services to make sure they are getting their full entitlement to subsidies, which could cut thousands of euros off their bills each year.
A total of 182,000 children in Ireland received subsidies towards the cost of early learning and childcare under the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) in 2023, with almost €337 million paid to 3,698 early learning and childcare providers to offset fees charged to parents.
While the numbers benefitting from the Scheme are at unprecedented levels, data from a recent Ipsos poll commissioned by the Department shows that up to 40% of parents with children under 15 are unaware of the Scheme.
A team from the Department of Children, Equality, Disability Integration and Youth as well as City and County Childcare Committee members from across the country were at the Pregnancy & Baby Fair in the RDS last weekend (23 to 24 March) to speak to parents and expectant parents about the NCS and other early learning and childcare supports
Minister O’Gorman said:
“While thousands of parents are receiving subsidies, many parents and expectant parents are unaware of their entitlement to supports towards childcare costs.
“There are almost 4,000 providers across the country eligible to receive your early learning and childcare subsidy.
“We know there are some parents who are using Tusla-registered early learning and childcare services who haven’t yet signed up to receive a subsidy under NCS. They can do so today by visiting the NCS website at www.NCS.gov.ie.
“We also know there are other parents signed up to the NCS who increase the number of early learning and childcare hours used by their child during holidays and other non-schools times but aren’t claiming the subsidy for those extra hours. They can simply do so by speaking with their provider.”
Currently, the minimum hourly subsidy is €1.40 and it will be increasing to €2.14 in September. This will mean families using full time early learning and childcare (45 hours a week) will receive a minimum of €5,000 a year off their bill per child. Many families can receive an Income Assessed Award, which is based on household income, which can be as high €12,000 per year off their bill for childcare.
Families who would like to know if their early learning and childcare provider is registered for the NCS can access the Childcare Search Service on the NCS website, at www.NCS.gov.ie , where they can also see the providers’ fees list. Families will also find information on how to apply for the NCS.
Families who want some more support in how to apply can contact their local City or County Childcare Committee. Childcare Committees are a local government funded support designed to help families access early learning and childcare supports. Contact details for all Childcare Committees can be found on: myccc.ie
The Scheme Administrator, Pobal, also run a helpline to provide support and guidance to parents in relation to the NCS. The Parent Support Centre can be contacted on 01 906 8530 - Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm.
The National Childcare Scheme (NCS) was launched in late 2019 and has been highly successful, with over half a billion euros of exchequer funds being provided as NCS subsidies since then.
The NCS supports children at all stages, regardless of parents’ income, from the ages of 24 weeks up to 15 years. NCS subsidies are awarded at an hourly rate, so whether a family uses an hour’s after-school care a day or has a child attending crèche full-time, they can benefit.
As long as their early learning and childcare provider is registered with Tusla and has signed up to the NCS, families can receive an hourly subsidy based on a child’s typical childcare usage when children are not in school or in free preschool (the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme). Parents can receive up to a maximum of 45 hours a week.
Together for Better, the Government’s new funding brings together three major schemes, the NCS, the ECCE programme and Core Funding. 94% of providers who offer the NCS this year have signed up to Together for Better, which mean they have committed to freezing their fees to September 2021 levels, ensuring the full benefit of the NCS is passed on to parents.
At present, only Tusla-registered childminders are able to offer the NCS. Currently the legislation prevents most childminders from registering with Tusla. Work is underway through the National Action Plan for Childminding, to extend regulation to all paid non-relative childminders, which will open the NCS to a much wider cohort of childminders.