Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 16 September 2026
1019. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she is aware of childcare providers operating from publicly funded school premises that do not participate in the national childcare scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [64512/26]
View answerThe Department does not hold data on services that are not participating in any Department-funded programme or scheme.
Each year, Pobal compiles data from Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) providers as part of the Annual Early Years Sector Profile (AEYSP). All service providers who are contracted to deliver at least one Department funded programme/scheme (i.e. ECCE, NCS, CCSP, Core Funding) are invited to take part in AEYSP. Data for the Early Years Sector Profile is typically captured in May/June of each programme year.
For the 2024/25 programme year, 87% of services responded to the AEYSP survey during the data collection window. Data for the 2024/25 programme year indicated that 22% of services contracted into Department-funded schemes are located on school premises. Data on premises type is not available for services that are not contracted into Department-funded schemes.
Further information on the survey results can be found on the Early Learning and Childcare data website: www.pobal.ie/data-library/early-learning-and-childcare-data/.
Participation in the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) is a requirement for Core Funding Partner services offering care to age groups outside of the ECCE-eligible age range. Core Funding Partner services offering sessional care only to children in the ECCE-eligible age range are required to offer ECCE but are not required to offer NCS. ECCE-only services are not required to participate in NCS.
