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Dear Service Provider, 

Please see the below important update for ELC/SAC providers on the increase to the minimum subsidy rate for the National Childcare Scheme (NCS).

Minimum NCS subsidy increase

As previously communicated, from 2 January 2023, the minimum rate for NCS subsidies will increase from €0.50 to €1.40. The increase, which was introduced by Minister Roderic O’Gorman as part of Budget 2023 measures, means that if parents are in receipt of a subsidy which is less than the maximum, they will receive a higher subsidy towards their childcare fees.

Awards will be recalculated with this new rate and updated accordingly. This will affect existing claims. Service providers do not need to modify the claim if the hours are remaining the same. However, service providers will have to recalculate co-payment and issue new parental agreements.

Identifying affected claims

To assist with identifying which NCS claims in your service have been impacted, a new page called ‘Budget 2023 Claims affected’ will be available on the Early Years Hive from 25 November. This page will be under the Registration menu on Hive and will display the claims that will change during the uplift process. Please note that the uplift process may take up to 10 days from 25 November and not all of the claims will be available on this page from day one. 

Please see the how-to guide here for more information on this new page.

Parental agreement

To assist with this additional administrative work, from 2 December, you will be able to print out Parental Agreements for NCS directly from the Hive. This new feature will be available on the ‘Parental Agreement and Co-payment” section of NCS claims on the NCS registrations page. Once you have calculated the co-payment for an NCS claim, the Parental Agreement will include all co-payment weekly amounts, the child’s name, the claim to and from date etc. this will be available to download and print from this page. Further information on this new feature will be available later next week. 

Please see the how-to guide here for more information on the Parental Agreement.

Regards,
The Early Years Team

Dear Service Provider

Building Blocks - Improvement Grant applications opened on the 28 October 2022.

The closing date for applications has been extended to Friday 16 December 2022 at 5pm.

There will be no further extension to this date, and it will not be possible to submit late applications.

When submitting your application, please ensure you have attached all required documents from the following checklist:

Please refer to the Applicant Guidelines and FAQ available on the Capital - Documents page of the Early Years Hive for support on completing the application for Building Blocks – Improvement Grant.

Submission of the Building Blocks application form should not be delayed by the e-tendering process, as only an indicative quote needs to be submitted.

Successful applicants must have completed the E-tendering process in advance of any works commencing and funding being spent.

Applicants must be able to demonstrate, where relevant, that they have completed the E- Tendering process. Applicants are advised to maintain all documentation relating to the e tendering process on file.

Applicants can contact the Early Years Provider Centre (EYPC) with any queries by raising a Service Request on Hive under the programme: Building Blocks - Improvement Grant and selecting the relevant sub-category.

PLEASE NOTE: If applicants contact Pobal with an ICT issue within 48 hours of the closing date and time, Pobal cannot guarantee that the ICT issue will be resolved in time to submit the application.

Regards,
The Early Years Team

From Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth 

Published on 22 November 2022

Last updated on 18 November 2022

• €150,000 scheme to pilot the provision a range of meal options to children, including the provision of hot meals.
• Pilot sites will include early learning and childcare settings operating in areas of concentrated disadvantage.
• Results from pilot scheme to inform wider work under way to develop a DEIS type model for early learning and childcare.

Roderic O'Gorman, Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, today announced €150,000 in funding for a scheme to pilot the provision of meals, including hot meals, to children in early learning and childcare settings.

The pilot scheme, which is being funded under Dormant Accounts Funding, will test a range of meal options for children in early learning and childcare settings operating in areas of concentrated disadvantage. 

The three meal options in the pilot scheme will be:

• breakfast or snack
• breakfast or snack, plus a packed lunch for children to take home
• hot meal or snack

As well as funding, pilot settings will have the assistance of a dietician to support the selection of the meal options.

The pilot scheme will be subject to an evaluation that will include consultation with children and their families, educators and service managers.

The pilot scheme is one of a range of measures committed to under First 5, a whole-of-government strategy for babies, young children and their families, to help tackle early childhood poverty and to support children’s health, learning and development.

The results of the pilot scheme will inform decisions about wider roll out as well as work ongoing in the department to develop a DEIS-type model for early learning and childcare, which aims to provide services with a proportionate mix of universal and targeted supports to support children and families accessing their services who are experiencing disadvantage.

Pobal will support the delivery and evaluation of this pilot scheme.

In announcing the pilot scheme, Minister O’Gorman said:

 "Early learning and childcare services work very hard every day to support children experiencing disadvantage and are uniquely placed to ensure these children can access nutritious meals and snacks – which is so important for children’s health, learning and development.

"Already, as required by regulation, children attending these services on a full-time basis are provided with two meals (one hot) and two snacks throughout the day. This covers a significant proportion of their daily food intake – as much as 70 percent.

"For children attending these services for shorter periods however, the provision of food is far more limited. Under this scheme, a range of meal options, including a hot meal, will be piloted among this cohort.

"The results of the pilot scheme is being undertaken under First 5 and as part of wider work underway in my department to develop a DEIS-type model for early learning and childcare."

 Anna Shakespeare, CEO of Pobal said:

"Pobal is delighted to partner the department on this important initiative given the impact this intervention will have on children experiencing disadvantage."

Dear Service Provider, 

Building Blocks – Improvement Grant applications opened on 28th October.  

The closing date for applications is Friday 25th November 2022 at 5pm.  Late applications will not be accepted. 

When submitting your application, please ensure you have attached all required documents from the following checklist:

Please refer to the Applicant Guidelines and FAQ available on the Capital – Documents page of the Early Years Hive for support on completing the application for Building Blocks – Improvement Grant.

Applicants can contact the Early Years Provider Centre (EYPC) with any queries by raising a Service Request on Hive under the programme: Building Blocks - Improvement Grant and selecting the relevant sub-category. 

PLEASE NOTE: If applicants contact Pobal with an ICT issue within 48 hours of the closing date and time, Pobal cannot guarantee that the ICT issue will be resolved in time to submit the application.

Regards, 

The Early Years Team 

Dear Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare Providers, 

This is a reminder that due to the extension to the backdating window, there is only a three-week window in which changes that occurred before 28 October will be backdated if they are submitted by close of business 18 November 2022. After this date, back payments will not be permitted for Core Funding.

If you have any queries, please contact the Early Years Provider Centre (EYPC) by raising a Service Request on Hive under the programme: Core Funding.

Best wishes

The Early Years Team