Featured News

COVID-19 Sustainability Support Fund

Dear Service Provider,

We are pleased to announce that a further applicant window to apply for the COVID-19 Sustainability Support Fund will open from today Tuesday, 24th of November and will close at 1pm on Monday, 30th of November 2020.

This funding is accessible to providers (not-for-profit and for-profit) who can demonstrate that the other measures available as part of the July Stimulus Package are not sufficient by themselves to enable viable operations of their business. Further information in relation to eligibility is available in the Guidelines.

The Application Form, Workbook, and Applicant Guidelines for the ELC & SAC COVID-19 Sustainability Support Fund are available on the Hive and can be accessed here: https://earlyyearshive.ncs.gov.ie/useful-links/.

Support for Service Providers in relation to the completion of the Application Form and Workbook is available via the local City and County Childcare Committees. Contact details can be found in the Guidelines document. Pobal EYPC will not be providing support within this context except where queries relate to accessing the Hive.

Early Years Team

First 5, the ten-year whole-of-government, whole-of-society strategy for babies, young children and their families was published in November 2018 fulfilling a key action in Better Outcomes Brighter Futures (BOBF): the National Policy Framework for Children and Young People (2014–2020).

First 5 focuses on the period of early childhood, from the antenatal period to age five, and takes a joined-up, cross-government approach to supporting babies, young children and their families during these critical early years.

The Strategy identifies more than 150 initial actions across Government Departments and State Agencies which will be substantially progressed in the initial implementation phase from 2019 to 2021.

The First 5 Implementation Plan, published in May 2019, covers this first phase of implementation. It identifies key milestones for each action across 2019, 2020 and 2021 as well as the key output for the action by 2021. For 2019, 305 milestones were identified.

This First 5 Annual Implementation Report reviews progress made in 2019 and on these 2019 milestones.

The Report focuses on key achievements overall and describes progress across the First 5 targets, goals, strategic objectives and building blocks. A detailed progress update on each individual milestone is also presented.

As the publication of the First 5 Annual Implementation Report was published in May 2019, the first year of implementation was not a full calendar year.

Click here to download the report 

Please note that the FAR Quarter 4 closing date is the 11th December 2020. 

This is the FINAL oppurtnity to apply for the FAR Reimbursement. 

To apply for the FULL FAR Reimbursement Fund, a registered service or registered childminder must:
• Have an employee who has completed or have themselves completed either the full 18 hours FAR course or the 12 hours Refresher FAR course since January 1st, 2019.
• Have paid for the employee / registered childminder to participate in the training.
• Submit a copy of the receipt for training and a copy of the PHECC accredited FAR certificate.

To apply for the PARTIAL FAR Reimbursement Fund, a registered service or registered childminder must:
• Have an employee who has completed or have themselves completed either the two day online theory element of the full FAR course or the one day online theory element of the refresher FAR course since the Public Health restrictions have been put in place
• Have paid for the employee / registered childminder to participate in the training.
• Submit a copy of the receipt for training and a copy of the letter from the PHECC accredited trainer guaranteeing that the employee has secured a place for the practical element of the FAR course. In this instance a maximum of 2/3 of the Bursary will be paid with the remaining paid on receipt of a copy of the PHECC accredited FAR certificate

PLEASE NOTE:
• All forms must be fully completed and returned to Offaly County Childcare Committee
• Incomplete application forms will not be accepted.
• All required documents must be attached to the application form.
• Information provided by the applicant will only be used for the purpose it was intended and will be retained by the CCC for recording purposes.
• The CCC will make the decision on funding and all decisions are final.
• Funding will cease in 2020

Contact Deirdre on 085 1783397 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Click on the link to download the form: FAR Reimbursement Application Form including part funding

2020/2021 Compliance Announcement - Desk based checks

On the direction of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) formerly DCYA, the Pobal Compliance team are commencing compliance activity on programme funding currently administered to Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) services.

Compliance checks will be undertaken in respect of some or all of the following Programmes i.e.

• Community Childcare Subvention Plus Savers (CCSP including CCSU & CCSR)
• Training and Employment Childcare Savers (TEC)
• Free Pre-school Year in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme

For the 2020/2021 cycle, the ECCE programme is administered on the Hive on the Early Years Platform (EYP). The CCSP/CCSU/CCSR & TEC Saver programmes are administered through the Programme Implementation Platform (PIP). To assist in meeting compliance requirements, it is important that participating services on any of the above programmes familiarise themselves with the following:

• Relevant programme funding agreements
• Relevant rules documents
• “How to Guides”
• Quick Guides
• Information contained in PIP announcements and resources on PIP and the Hive.

Compliance approach during COVID-19 pandemic

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact the country, the compliance process has been temporarily revised to take account of the current public health situation and guidance available. As compliance activity recommences, the safety of children and ELC/SAC/Pobal staff in settings remains paramount.

Therefore, the following approach will apply to compliance activity until further notice:

• On- site compliance visits to services will be postponed temporarily (However, Pobal reserve the right to conduct an on-site visit at its discretion, but in keeping with public health guidelines).
• Compliance desk based checks will be undertaken by Pobal compliance staff to verify the accuracy of registrations on PIP and the Hive.
• For each service, a sample of PIP Portal or the Hive Registration IDs will be selected for review.
• Copies of original service attendance records will be reviewed as a priority.

What will services selected for compliance desk based checks need to do?

• For each service provider selected for compliance desk based checks, the compliance team will issue an email to the primary authorised user (PAU) as per the Hive outlining the DCEDIY programme/s selected for review.
• The email will include an attached Compliance Requirements List (CRL) for submission. The CRL will outline the detail of the selected PIP Portal/Hive Registration ID’s. The service provider will be required to submit copies of original attendance records, showing the selected children, for the period of the children’s complete attendance. (A generic CRL template is available on PIP/the Hive and contains further detail of the information requirements. Please note this will be modified and issued to the services selected for desk based checks).
• The service provider should not redact/delete the records/information that relate to other DCEDIY funded children that are not within the initial selection requested. Pobal reserves the right to review the attendance patterns of DCEDIY funded children recorded within the attendance records submitted for compliance purposes.
• To meet GDPR legislation, the service will however be requested to redact the names of any non- DCEDIY funded children from the attendance records for rooms/sessions being submitted.
• The CRL contains a self-declaration that is required to be signed by the provider (PAU) to confirm that all of the attendance records submitted are copies of the original records completed by staff in each room/session.
• A timescale for submission of the information will be outlined in the initial email.
• A follow up email will be issued to the service which will contain a secure link to a Pobal OneDrive folder. Once the link is opened the service will be able to save and upload the attendance records and signed declaration to the folder within a specified timeframe.
• The service provider (PAU) will be contacted by phone following the issuing of emails to confirm that the emails have been received and to discuss the process and provide any required clarifications.
• Once the deadline for submission of information expires the link will be closed.

What is involved in the Pobal compliance desk based checks process?

• The desk based checks undertaken on records submitted will take account of any flexibility of DCEDIY programme rules notified to providers through announcements on PIP and the Hive.
• The procedure for reviewing registrations and attendance records will be the same as per on-site visits to ensure adherence with DCEDIY requirements.
• Following receipt of the document submission, the visit officer will endeavour to minimise disruption to the service operation. However, the service may receive a further phone call(s) and/or e-mail if clarifications are required on the chosen sample of registrations and the format of records submitted.

How will a service be notified of the compliance outcomes?

• Following a review of the format of attendance records and the accuracy of PIP/Hive registrations for the selected sample, a compliant/ non- compliant outcome will be applied. In line with communicating outcomes to services following an onsite visit, the compliance team will continue to issue 1) an email notification of outcomes and 2) where applicable, an additional email identifying PIP /the Hive registration updating requirements

Please note that being selected for a desk based compliance check does not preclude a service from being selected for an onsite visit at a later date. There will be a further PIP announcement to advise when unannounced site visits will recommence.

Compliance Guides for Service Providers/Checklists

The Compliance Guides for Service Providers relating to standard onsite compliance visits have been revised for this cycle and are being finalised for publication. A further announcement on these documents will follow shortly at which time the documents will be uploaded to PIP and the Hive systems for information purposes.

Saver Management Windows (SMWs)

The compliance checks on CCSP/CCSU/CCSR and TEC Saver registrations take account of Saver Management Windows (SMW) timelines as outlined in the relevant rules and announcements on PIP. ELC and SAC service providers are reminded that any CCSP/CCSU/CCSR and TEC Saver registrations that require updating to meet compliance with the relevant programme rules should be updated on PIP during the applicable Saver Management Window.

National Childcare Scheme (NCS)

A further update will be issued in advance of checks commencing on NCS. It is important that all required documentation is maintained from the commencement of registrations under this scheme.

NCS: Update to NCS Registrations Quick Guide page on the Early Years Hive

Dear Service Provider,

Further to last Monday’s announcement (09/11/2020) on the need to review NCS CHICKs/Awards on the Early Years Hive as they may be ending soon, we are happy to say that the NCS Registrations Quick Guide section of the Hive has been updated to assist you with this task.

On this page, you can now find more detailed guidance on how to do the following for NCS:

• Register a child with a CHICK
• View your registrations: check when a claim is ending
• Amend a registration: edit a claim, add weeks to a claim, or end a claim

Please be aware that parents may have already received a notification on the applicant portal to let them know their award/CHICK has expired. You can check if the award/CHICK is soon to expire by looking at the subsidy end date on the Hive. Please see the new section ‘Viewing child registrations’ on NCS Registrations Quick Guide for guidance.

In some cases, there may be unclaimed weeks on the award/CHICK. You can add weeks to the claim by following the instructions found under ‘Amending registrations’ on NCS Registrations Quick Guide.

If you need further assistance on registrations, please raise a Service Request on the Hive.

Many thanks,
Early Years Team