UPDATE: Budget Changes

From May 2009 payments will be halved to €41.50 a month

From 31 December 2009 payments will be abolished

It will be replaced in January 2010 with a pre-school Early Childhood and Education Scheme (ECCE) for all children between the ages of 3 years 3 months and 4 years 6 months. A capitation grant will be payable to service providers who provide free pre-school services.

Early Childhood and Education Scheme

The government will have a helpline in place with effect from Monday, 20th April to answer queries from parents and childcare providers in relation to the operation of the new Scheme. The number is 1890 30 30 39.

Children enrolled in playschools will receive free pre-school provision of 3 hours per day, 5 days each week over a 38 week year. This equates to a weekly capitation grant to the service provider of €64.50 and parents with children enrolled in these services will not be charged.

Children enrolled in full- or part-time childcare services will receive free pre-school provision of 2 hours and 15 minutes per day, five days a week over a 50 week period. This equates to a weekly capitation grant to the service of €48.50, with parents paying for their childcare net of this amount. Over the course of the year, the financial benefit of the scheme for a single child is over €2,400 euro.

All community and private pre-school services, which meet the requirements of the scheme, will be invited to apply for entry to the scheme and all notified pre-school services will be contacted by the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (OMCYA) by the end of May, 2009. To introduce the scheme as quickly as possible and maximise the number of children and their parents who will benefit from the outset, the Minister said he did not propose to wait until the school year beginning September 2010 but would introduce the scheme from January 2010. From September 2010, the pre-school year will run from September of each year in line with the school year.

All children aged between 3 years 3 months and 4 years 6 months at September 1st each year, will be eligible and parents who wish to avail of the scheme can enrol their children with the available participating service of their choice. Children entering the scheme in January 2010 will be eligible, if they are aged between 3 years and 7 months and 4 years and 10 months at 1 January 2010 (children born between March 1st, 2005 and June 1st, 2006). Parents should have regard to the enrolment policies of their local primary schools in making decisions regarding the age that their children should avail of the pre-school year.

A Workforce Development Plan for the early childhood care and education sector is also being developed. In general, the ECCE will be delivered by an Early Years Leader and Assistant. Early years leaders will be expected to be appropriately qualified to undertake this work and it is recognised that there will be a need to build towards appropriate qualifications/levels over time.

What exactly is the Early Childcare Supplement?

The Early Childcare Supplement is a non-taxable payment to families with children under 5 years of ageWhen will the payments issue?

Families getting Child Benefit will be paid the Early Childcare Supplement for children up to 5 years of age (5½ years of age, from 1 January 2009 to 28 February 2009, 6 years pre 1 January 2009).
The Early Childcare Supplement is a monthly payment. It is paid on the second Monday of each month. You will get a payment for the month your child reaches 5 years of age but not after that.

From March 2009, the Early Childcare Supplement is worth €996 per child, per year.
You will get €83 per month. It is paid in arrears on the second Monday of each month. For example, March's payment will be paid to you on the second Monday in April.

Pre March 2009, the Early Childcare Supplement was worth €1,104 per child, per year.
For January & February 2009 you would get €92 per month. It was paid in arrears on the second Monday of each month.

Pre January 2009 the payment was paid quarterly

How will the payments issue?

Payments will be made in the same way as your Child Benefit payments are already made. If you have your Child Benefit paid into a bank account, your Early Childcare Supplement will be automatically paid into the same account. If you collect your Child Benefit at the Post Office with a book, you will collect your Early Childcare Supplement there too, although with a Social Services Card instead of a book (if you do not already have a card, one will be issued to you before the first Early Childcare Supplement payment).

How do I apply?

No application is necessary, so you do not need to do anything. As long as you are receiving Child Benefit for a child under 5, your Early Childcare Supplement will be issued automatically.

Contact Information

For further information about Early Childcare Supplement, please contact:

Early Childcare Supplement Section,
St Oliver Plunkett Road,
Letterkenny,
Co Donegal,

Telephone: 1890 400 400 (from within the Republic of Ireland).