Emer Currie
Ceist:628. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality for a county-by-county breakdown of vacant childcare places for those aged under one, under four, and school age care. [73841/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThursday, 18 December 2025
Ceisteanna (628)
Freagraí scríofa
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). While ELC and SAC offerings vary across service providers and the allocation of ELC or SAC places is flexible, the published capacity data provides an estimate of the number of children enrolled in ELC and SAC at a given time.
Data is not available in the format requested by the Deputy. Due to the small number of enrolments for those up to one year of age, it is not possible to reliably estimate national or county figures for this cohort. The table at the link below instead summarises the estimated number of enrolments, the % of services with at least one vacant place and the % of services operating a waiting list for both ELC and SAC. This information is provided by county for the programme year 2023/2024.
ELC* refers to all children aged zero to four years and non-school going children aged between four and six years. SAC** refers to school going children aged between four and six years and all children over six years of age.
Data for 2025 is currently not available as the 2024/2025 AEYSP is undergoing data preparation. The results will be published on the Early Learning and Childcare Data website as soon as they are available.
Notes: *ELC services are those offering care to children in the following age groups: Up to 1 year; 1 year+ to 2 years; 2 years+ to 3 years; 3 years+ to 4 years; 4 years+ to 5 years Non-school going; 5 years+ to 6 years Non-school going. **SAC services are those offering care to children in the following age groups: 4 years+ to 5 years School going; 5 years+ to 6 years School going; 6 years+ to 8 years; 8 years+.
Further information can be found on the Early Learning and Childcare data website. The Capacity Section of the website provides information on the number of children enrolled, services with vacant places, and services with a waiting list.