Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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158. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the reason a child with a disability who attends a childcare setting under the NCS is being penalised by a reduction in NCS subsidies due to regular attendance at medical appointments and essential therapies; the reason allowances cannot be made for attendance at essential therapies/appointments without loss of NCS hours; if she will urgently review this matter to ensure that children with disabilities who are attending much needed therapies are not being penalised or discriminated against by the NCS by removal of hours due to regular nonattendance (while attending appointments); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50703/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The National Childcare Scheme (NCS) design includes a number of features to enhance flexibility and access to early learning and childcare. In particular NCS subsidies are awarded as an hourly rate, along with a maximum number of weekly hours that the subsidy will be paid for i.e. 45 weekly hours.

The parent and provider agree the hours of childcare registered by considering what the family requires and what the provider can offer in terms of available sessions. The NCS Subsidy is applied to the hours that have been agreed between both parties – subject to the attendance rules.

This is a key financial and governance control to ensure that public money is being used responsibly.

Notwithstanding the above, the Department recognises that there are many reasons why a child’s attendance may occasionally be less than their registered hours. This could be due to, for example, an illness or attendance at appointments – or simply a parent being able to collect their child earlier than usual. Firstly, the NCS enables Providers to round up a child’s daily attendance to the nearest full hour, therefore if a child attends 4.12hrs, this may be recorded as 5hrs.

Additionally, the NCS under-attendance policy provides additional flexibility for families. Children may under-attend their registered hours for up to 12 weeks without any reduction in subsidy. For context, if a child under-attends for 8 weeks in a row, a notification will issue to both parent and provider indicating that the subsidy will be reduced if under-attendance continues for a further four weeks (i.e. a total of 12 consecutive weeks). However, if the child attends their fully registered hours, for at least one week (prior to the 12th week), the cycle resets and the subsidy remains unaffected.

To be clear, subsidies will only be reduced if the child is either continuously absent from a service, or not using the agreed hours for a prolonged period.

It should also be noted that in addition to this policy, two types of special circumstances are available to parents:

1) ‘Non-attendance exemptions’

Exemptions of this type are granted in the below circumstances where a child has been absent for more than 4 weeks:

Exceptional circumstances for under-attendance of 8 weeks, or more, are applicable where there is regular attendance at medical or therapeutic appointments by the child, parent or sibling.

Where these circumstances arise, subsidies may continue to be paid for a further 4 weeks. This means that under-attendance can continue for 16 weeks without affecting the subsidy – as opposed to the standard 12 weeks previously outlined.

More information on the above is available through the following link, under ‘Managing your child’s attendance’: www.ncs.gov.ie/en/claims-guide/. Parents seeking further support may also wish to contact the Parent Support Centre on 01 906 8530 from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday.