Featured News

HSE MEMO: NEW Flu Vaccine Walk-in Clinics for Children Aged 2-17 this week

• All children aged 2-17 can get the free flu vaccine  
• Additional Flu Vaccination Clinics
• Flu can be serious in children

Download Memo HERE

HSE MEMO: Significant levels of Flu, Covid-19 and RSV currently circulating

• Significant increase in viral infections
• Important messages for families and children regarding any infections:
  • 1) The most important measure is to stay home if you are unwell
  • 2) Infection, prevention and control measures
  • 3) Vaccination
  • 4. If you are concerned about your child

Download Memo HERE

Dear Service Providers, 

Now that the subsidy uplift has taken place, providers will be aware of the need to update their Parental Agreements. These need to be completed by 2 March.

Please note the calculations produced in the Co-Payment tool and/or the semi-automated Parental Agreement are based on the basis of registration information entered by the Service Provider for the child. It does not take into account any NCS closure periods. Providers should review the calculations produced to ensure they apply to their service’s particular circumstances. If providers have additional unfunded days you may need to adjust the calculations/contract accordingly.

We are currently working to add unfunded NCS closure date functionality and to make the Parental Agreement editable by providers.

If providers need any support in preparing Parental Agreements, please contact the provider support team at Pobal.

Regards,

The Early Years Team

Check out the Parent and Toddler groups in your area:

http://www.offalychildcare.com/index.php/parent-and-toddler-groups-offaly/find-a-group

• New subsidy rates under the National Childcare Scheme effective from 2 January
• Record numbers of children now benefitting from supports under the Scheme
• All families encouraged to ensure they are availing of their entitlements under the Scheme

Roderic O’Gorman, Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth today welcomed the introduction of new subsidy rates under the National Childcare Scheme, which is set to substantially reduce out of pocket costs for early learning and childcare for thousands of families across the country.

From 2 January, the minimum hourly subsidy under the National Childcare Scheme for all children under 15 will be €1.40 – an increase of €0.90 per hour from last year.

For families using Tusla-registered early learning and childcare, this subsidy increase represents further cost reductions of €2,106 (or a reduction of €3,326 in total) off the annual cost of early learning and childcare for each child.

The change to the National Childcare Scheme is being backed by €121 million secured in Budget 2023 by Minister O’Gorman, bringing total funding for the Scheme to €358 million this year.

Record numbers of children are now accessing supports under the Scheme. More than 98,000 children are currently in receipt of support, representing an 82% increase in the number of children for the same period last year.

Welcoming today’s changes to the National Childcare Scheme, the Minister said:

“This Government is delivering on its promise to make high-quality early learning and childcare more affordable for families and accessible to all children.

Families can now benefit from significant increases in the National Childcare Scheme, helping to ease the financial pressure associated with early learning and childcare in Ireland.

Increasing the subsidy that families can avail of under the National Childcare Scheme is the best way to ensure all families with children in Tusla-registered early learning and childcare can benefit from the Government’s €1 billion investment in early learning and childcare for 2023.

More families than ever before are already availing of the National Childcare Scheme, offsetting their early learning and childcare costs, and I am confident that with this additional investment starting today, we can bring further benefits to these families and thousands more like them.

I encourage all eligible families to avail of these supports on offer, by visiting www.ncs.gov.ie, calling the Parent Support Centre on 01 906 8530 or talking to their early learning and childcare provider”

https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/62c29-thousands-of-families-to-benefit-from-substantial-reductions-in-early-learning-and-childcare-costs-from-today/

Dear Service Provider, 

Service providers are reminded that changes to service calendars must be first approved by County Childcare Committees (CCCs) and parents must be given 20 working days’ notice in writing of any change to the service’s calendar.

Copies of such notices must be kept on file for compliance purposes.

For further infrmation on service calendars, please contact your local CCC or refer to the ECCE service calendar and the CCSP service calendar guidance pages available on the Hive

Regards,
The Early Years Team