Funding

Free Pre-School Year in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE)

The ECCE Scheme is a new scheme designed to give children access to a free Pre-School Year of appropriate programme-based activities in the year before they start primary school. Participation in a pre-school programme provides children with their first formal experience of early learning, the starting-point of their educational and social development outside the home. Children who avail of pre-school are more likely to be ready for school and a formal learning and social environment.

There are nearly 5,000 pre-school services nationally notified to the Health Service Executive (HSE) or registered with the Irish Montessori Educational Board (IMEB). All of these are eligible to apply to participate in the scheme once all the necessary ECCE Criteria is met by the service provider.

Services participating in the scheme will be paid a capitation fee for each qualifying child enrolled. In return, the service will be required to provide an appropriate programme of activities in early childhood care and education (ECCE) which will be free to parents. The pre-school year will commence in September of each year.

Service provision

Children attending a full or part-time service will normally receive pre-school year sessions for 2 hours 15 minutes a day, 5 days a week over 50 weeks. To facilitate parents whose children attend a full or part time service for only 3 days a week, the service may provide 3 daily sessions of 3 hours 45 minutes each week. The weekly capitation fee in these cases will be €48.50.
Children attending a sessional playschool service, typically provided for about 3 hours each day, will normally receive pre-school year sessions for 3 hours a day, 5 days a week over 38 weeks. Sessional playschool services which are unable to open 5 days a week, can apply to provide the pre-school year in the form of 3 hours 30 minutes a day, 4 days a week over 41 weeks. The weekly capitation fee in these cases will be €64.50.

Some sessional playschools may choose to open for 50 weeks in the year rather than 38, in which case they will provide daily sessions of 2 hours 15 minutes, and full or part-time services may choose to also provide sessional playschool services in which case the 38 week model will apply.

A higher rate of capitation is available for those pre-school services where all the pre-school leaders have a childcare / early years educational qualification at FETAC level 7 or 8 (I.e. degree level) and 3 years experience of working in the pre-school sector, and all the pre-school assistants have the qualifications required for a pre-school leader under the general provisions of the scheme. The higher rate amounts to €75.00 per week.

You can also log onto the OMCYA website at www.omcya.ie to view more information.

NCIP Parent & Toddler Group Grant Initiative

The Parent and Toddler Group Grant Initiative is now in operation through a strategic partnership between The Health Service Executive (HSE), and Roscommon County Childcare Committee (RCCC) for the administration of the Parent & Toddler Group Grants for 2011.

The grants recognise that Parent & Toddler Groups are providing informal support to Parents/Carers, grandparents and childminders, as well as to young children. These groups are an important source of social contact especially for new Parents/Carers and families and those who may be new to an area.

For further information on the Parent & Toddler grant scheme, contact Carmel Dunne at 094-9622540 or cmao@roscommonchildcare.ie

This programme is funded by the Irish Government under the National Childcare Investment Programme.

NCIP Community Childcare Subvention Scheme (CCS)

In January 2008 the new Community Childcare Subvention Scheme came into effect.

Community childcare services serving disadvantaged communities have been supported since 2000 under the EU co-funded Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme 2000-2006 (EOCP) which closed in December.

This scheme will support all community-based childcare services regardless of their location, based on the actual number of children of disadvantaged parents using their services. This will open up the support funding for community services across the country and standardise the way services and individual parents benefit from affordable childcare.

For further information:

Contact us or one of the organisations below:
Childcare Directorate - 01 635 4000
Pobal - 01 240 0727