Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 May 2026
505. Deputy Shane Moynihan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of recipients of the national childcare scheme and the early childhood care and education programme, broken down by electoral division of recipients, not Local Electoral Area, for the most recent year for which data is available; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36435/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe National Childcare Scheme (NCS) provides financial support to help parents reduce the cost of early learning and childcare.
Subsidies are available for children aged between 24 weeks and 15 years of age.
The minimum rate available to all families in Ireland is €2.14 per hour, which is available for up to 45 weekly hours. Depending on the child's age and the family's income, an additional income assessed subsidy may be available to provide additional support. This subsidy can be as much as €5.10 per hour, also for up to 45 weekly hours.
The Early Childhood Care and Education Programme (ECCE) is a free, universal two-year preschool programme available to all children within the eligible age range funded by the Department of Children, Disability and Equality (DCDE). It provides children with their first formal experience of early learning prior to commencing primary school.
For your information, please see the below link, which details the electoral division of recipients for both ECCE and NCS for the calendar year 2025. Electoral Divisions were determined by Eircode.
Please note that while most Electoral Divisions can be populated using the Eircode database, this is not possible for a small proportion that do not feature within the database. For these addresses, the Local Electoral Area has been identified and the Electoral Division has been marked as N/A. Please also note that there may be slight differences in totals from recent PQ 33206/26 due to the timing of extracts.
