Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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In line with the requirements of the Child Care Act, 1991 (Early Years Services) (Registration of School Age Services) Regulations, 2018, all providers wishing to operate a school age service are required to register with Tusla. The latest data on new service registrations and service closures provided to my Department by the Tusla Early Years Inspectorate in 2023 as of November 2023 shows a net increase of 158 standalone school age care services.

Each year a number school age services also decide to close of their own volition. Where they close, they are also required, in line with the statutory provisions outlined above, to notify Tusla of their planned closure. It must be noted however that Tusla does not systematically record or collate information in relation to the numbers of individual places available or closed per registered service. The number of verified reported cessations of School Age Services in 2023 to the end of November 2023 is presented below. Please note all data collected by Tusla is collated and verified on a rolling monthly basis in arrears, as such figures for December 2023 and January 2024 are not yet available.

To be of further assistance to the Deputy, Pobal have provided the number of School-Aged Childcare (SAC) registered children linked to services, funded by my Department, prior to their closure (in the period 2023 and 2024), with a total of 364 SAC registered children identified. Please note that unlike Tusla figures, Pobal’s figures relate only to those providers funded by my Department, and cover a longer period than those provided by Tusla i.e. 1/1/23 – 12/1/24