Each year Pobal compiles data on behalf of my Department from Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) providers as part of the Early Years Sector Profile Survey (EYSP).
The most recently published data from the 2022/23 programme year is available at www.pobal.ie/childcare/earlylearningandchildcaredata/. Data collection for the 2023/24 survey took place between 07 May and 07 June 2024. In total, 4,022 services completed the survey during the data collection window, with a response rate of 87%. It is expected that publication of the data from the 2023/24 survey on the Early Learning and Childcare Data website will begin before the end of February, each dashboard in the series will be updated as results become available.
Historical fees lists for programme years 22/23 and current year are now available on the Childcare Search section of the NCS Website for each individual childcare service. The addition of these fees lists will give parents the ability to check previous years fees where there is a concern. The fees list tables include which schemes the service has contracted to and whether the service is a partner service under Core Funding. They also include details of session costs, full or part time costs where applicable and any fee extras such as after-school clubs, deposits and any relevant discounts for multiple children dependent on the service offerings. The fees lists are downloadable to pdf format.
Parents can also contact the Parent Support Centre by phone by completing a contact form on the website to ask about year-on-year comparison of fees lists for their individual service. Local city or County Childcare Committee can also provide information and support regarding fees – the CCCs have access to all fees lists for their region.
