Since 2020, there has been a significant increase in the number of stand-alone school-age childcare services registered with Tusla, with 546 more services now on the Tusla register. At the end of Q1 2024, there was a total of 2,546 registered school-age services. A large number of early learning and childcare services also offer school-age childcare places in addition to places for younger children not yet in school.
The estimated number of school-going children enrolled in school-age childcare nationally rose by 26% over 2022 – 2023 alone, from 50,857 to 64161 enrolments.
This growth in school-age childcare provision and uptake has been supported by substantial increases in State investment and by changes to the National Childcare Scheme, including the extension of the universal subsidy under the scheme to children age 3.
There are also substantial numbers of services offering school-age childcare supported through Core Funding. These services are set to receive further increases in funding from September when the Core Funding allocation will increase by 15%, to €331 million for year three of the scheme.
According to latest data, almost 17% of all early learning and childcare services are located in schools.
The scope for wider use to be made of school buildings is a matter for the Department of Education and the various patrons that govern schools across the country. The Department of Education policy is to encourage the use of school facilities, where possible, for community, training and education-related activities, including early learning and childcare.
To assist schools in considering applications for use of their facilities, the Department of Education last week published Procedures on the use of School Buildings outside of School Hours. To encourage the greater use of such facilities, the Department of Education has committed to provide schools with a guarantee that any income from after-school use of their facilities will not affect their State grants, capitation fees or any other form of departmental funding.
