Written answers
Thursday, 2 July 2026
Department of Children, Disability and Equality
Childcare Services
Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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401. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of ECCE-only services nationally and by county in the years 2020 to 2025, inclusive. [50509/26]
Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The table below shows the total number of ECCE-only services, compiled by county and programme year from 2020/2021 to 2025/2026.
Number of ECCE-Only Services for Each Programme Year from 2020/21 –2025/26
County Division | 2020/2021 | 2021/2022 | 2022/2023 | 2023/2024 | 2024/2025 | 2025/2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cork* | 185 | 188 | 146 | 117 | 113 | 100 |
| County Carlow | 10 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 7 |
| County Cavan | 11 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 |
| County Clare | 47 | 54 | 46 | 37 | 38 | 33 |
| County Donegal | 35 | 42 | 20 | 14 | 15 | 15 |
| County Galway | 53 | 61 | 44 | 35 | 30 | 34 |
| County Kerry | 38 | 44 | 35 | 33 | 27 | 25 |
| County Kildare | 69 | 67 | 54 | 50 | 47 | 38 |
| County Kilkenny | 29 | 29 | 25 | 24 | 23 | 20 |
| County Laois | 20 | 16 | 17 | 12 | 14 | 16 |
| County Leitrim | 1 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| County Limerick | 64 | 67 | 54 | 55 | 49 | 39 |
| County Longford | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 |
| County Louth | 30 | 31 | 23 | 22 | 20 | 18 |
| County Mayo | 44 | 43 | 37 | 31 | 28 | 27 |
| County Meath | 80 | 77 | 68 | 63 | 55 | 53 |
| County Monaghan | 6 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| County Offaly | 25 | 26 | 23 | 21 | 20 | 20 |
| County Roscommon | 10 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| County Sligo | 20 | 21 | 19 | 16 | 14 | 9 |
| County Tipperary | 39 | 39 | 27 | 20 | 22 | 21 |
| County Waterford | 35 | 35 | 24 | 21 | 18 | 16 |
| County Westmeath | 18 | 19 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| County Wexford | 34 | 30 | 26 | 25 | 23 | 23 |
| County Wicklow | 65 | 64 | 55 | 48 | 38 | 34 |
| Dublin City | 100 | 92 | 62 | 55 | 43 | 38 |
| Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown | 78 | 71 | 27 | 25 | 23 | 17 |
| Fingal | 106 | 107 | 80 | 78 | 67 | 57 |
| South Dublin | 70 | 63 | 50 | 44 | 38 | 37 |
| National total | 1328 | 1336 | 1011 | 889 | 806 | 729 |
All the above figures have been provided by the ECCE Scheme Administrator as at 30/06/2026.
Please note that service counts are based on activity at any point within a programme year and therefore include services that may have opened or closed during that period. These figures should not be interpreted as the number of services operating at a single point in time.
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