Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The National Childcare Scheme (NCS) provides financial support to help parents meet the cost of childcare. It is available to families with children aged between 24 weeks and 15 years who are attending any participating Tusla registered childcare service, including any Tusla registered childminder.

As of 24 April 2024, there are a total of 147,012 unique children availing of subsidies under the NCS.

The exact number of children missing out on the Scheme cannot be detailed for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the Department only has sight of families who choose to engage with Department funded programmes such as the NCS or ECCE. However, it should be also noted that a certain proportion of families will not require early learning and childcare, or may choose to utilise a private childcare space. A private space may be a space in a service which has chosen not to participate in the NCS and/or a place where the parent or guardian has not applied for the NCS. The Department does not hold information relating to such places.

Currently, there are a total of 3,695 early learning and childcare providers participating in the NCS across the State - an increase of approx. 8% from the previous year. Families who wish to avail of the NCS can view a full list of participating providers on the NCS website. Further information on the Scheme, including details on how to apply, are also available on this website.

The number of children benefitting from the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) has increased significantly in recent years. Owing, in part, to the requirement on services in contract for Core Funding to offer the NCS to all eligible families. To date, 94% of eligible providers have signed up to Year 2 of Core Funding. In County Carlow specifically, 98% of eligible services have submitted a Core Funding application.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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In Budget 2024, I secured €4.5 million to commence initial roll-out of Equal Start from September this year. That allocation is equivalent to €13.5 million in a full year.

Equal Start is a funding model and set of universal and targeted measures to support access to, and participation in, early learning and childcare for children and their families who experience disadvantage.

It will consist of a series of measures to support children and their families, educators and practitioners and settings.

The commitment to develop a programme of additional supports in early learning and childcare to help address disadvantage was made in First 5 and the Programme for Government and later examined by the Expert Group that published Partnership for the Public Good. The Expert Group made a series of recommendations on the nature of the programme to be developed and how it would fit with the other primary funding schemes for early learning and childcare: the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme, the Access and Inclusion Model, the National Childcare Scheme and Core Funding.

Since last year, a Steering Group comprising officials from my Department, the Departments of Education and Social Protection as well as representatives from Better Start, Childcare Committees Ireland, Pobal and Tusla have been working together to develop Equal Start supports and a mechanism for identifying children and settings most in need of these supports.

Their work was informed by evidence, both national and international, as well as consultation with representative organisations, educators and practitioners, providers and with parents.

I am pleased to advise the Deputy that the work has now been finalised and Equal Start will brought to Government in the coming weeks with a view to publication in May and initial implementation to commence in September.