Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 January 2026
1897. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality her plans to reform the national childcare scheme to cover children with complex medical needs who are deemed unsuitable for group childcare settings due to their circumstances; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [74272/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe National Childcare Scheme (NCS) provides financial support to help parents reduce the cost of early learning and childcare in the form of a subsidy paid directly to a provider. Subsidies are available for children between 24 weeks and 15 years of age at a minimum rate of 2.14 per hour, available for up to 45 weekly hours. Additional income-assessed subsidies are available for families whose reckonable income is under €60,000.
All Tusla-registered providers are eligible to offer both the ECCE Programme and the National Childcare Scheme. This ensures that public funding is provided where there is assurance of the quality of provision. Only early years providers who are registered with Tusla can offer the ECCE Programme or the National Childcare Scheme to families that avail of their services. Under the Childcare Support Act 2018, which provides the statutory basis for the National Childcare Scheme, the Scheme is only open to Tusla-registered early years providers, which includes pre-schools, school age services, and childminders.
All paid, non-relative childminders who work in their own homes can register with Tusla and access the National Childcare Scheme. Childminders are a hugely important part of early learning and care and school-age childcare provision, and they continue to be the option of choice for many families.
Each childminder may mind between 1 and 6 children at once, subject to certain restrictions.
A key element of the legislative scheme for registration and regulation of early years services, including childminding services, is that minimum legal standards of care are met in such services and, further, that services which are publicly funded or subsidised (including through the NCS) meet those standards.
As part of the scheme standards must therefore be met by the premises in which the service is to be provided. The regulations governing the registration and regulation of early years services (SI 221 of 2016, SI 575 of 2018 and SI 494 of 2024) are extensive and set out these minimum standards. They include requirements for, garda vetting, fire safety standards, adequate space provided for children, requirements in relation to food and drink and other matters. Government funding is only available for duly registered services which meet these minimum requirements as set out in the relevant regulations. This Department is committed to supporting children with complex needs to participate in regulated early learning and care.
The Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) was introduced in 2016 to ensure that children with a disability can access and participate in the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme. AIM provides both universal supports to pre-school settings and targeted supports tailored to individual children’s needs, without requiring a formal diagnosis.
AIM also provides supports for children with complex healthcare needs in the ECCE programme through an extension of the HSE (Health Service Executive) Paediatric Home Care Package (PHCP), which enables their attendance at preschool. This Complex Healthcare Needs (CHN) trial is being undertaken in a collaboration between this Department, the Department of Health, and the Health Service Executive (HSE).
AIM is now being extended on a phased basis. Since September 2024, targeted AIM supports have been available to ECCE-eligible children outside of ECCE hours—both during term time and in holiday periods. Children can now access up to three additional hours per day during the ECCE term and up to six hours per day outside of term, through the National Childcare Scheme (NCS). The Programme for Government commits to ‘examine and expand the Access and Inclusion Model and make it available to younger children.’ Work is underway on a tailored model to extend AIM to children under three years of age, to enable their participation in early learning and care within Tusla-registered early years settings.
An evaluation of the NCS is due to start in early 2026. This evaluation will review how the Scheme has performed to date and identify any potential enhancements that could be made to better support diverse families with their early learning and childcare costs within Tusla-registered settings, and will be a key input to Phase 2 of the Shaping the Future Early Years Action Plan. The process will include extensive stakeholder consultation with parents, providers, and representative groups, as well as a comprehensive review of national and international research and best practice.
