Childcare Schemes
NCS Subsidy
The National Childcare Scheme (NCS) is a scheme that provides financial support to help parents to meet the costs of childcare.
The National Childcare Scheme provides 2 types of childcare subsidy for children over 6 months of age – a universal subsidy for children under 3 which is not means tested and an income assessed subsidy for children up to 15 which is means-tested.
Subsidies are paid directly to your childcare provider, however you must apply for the subsidy yourself. Your provider then subtracts your subsidy from your childcare bill.
To avail of the government NCS subsidy parents need to apply for a chick code before your child starts attending crèche.
ECCE Scheme
The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Scheme provides free early
childhood care and education for children of pre-school age. The scheme is offered for 3 hours a day, 5 days a week, 38 weeks of the year.
All children are entitled to 2 full academic years on the ECCE scheme. Children are eligible to start the ECCE scheme in the September of the year that they turn 3 years old.
For example, a child turning 3 years old in 2026 can be registered on the ECCE scheme in September 2026.
At First Steps Crèche we have two ECCE rooms. One for the first year of the scheme and another for the second year of the scheme. Each of our rooms offer two ECCE sessions:
- A morning session from 9am-12pm
- An afternoon session from 1pm-4pm
When is my child eligable?
ECCE Year 2025 & 2026 – children born in 2022
ECCE Year 2026 & 2027 – children born in 2023
ECCE Year 2027 & 2028 – children born in 2024
ECCE Year 2028 & 2029 – children born in 2025
