Frequently asked questions

The Early Childhood Care and Education programme, a free pre-school year for children aged 2 years 8 months until they start primary school, up to two programme years. It covers 3 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 38 weeks a year.

Eligibility is based on your child's age on 31 August. Use the ECCE eligibility calculator to see their programme years from their date of birth.

The National Childcare Scheme, a subsidy paid directly to your childcare provider that reduces your bill. Children under 3 get a universal rate; from age 3 the subsidy is assessed on family income. Try the NCS subsidy estimator for a rough figure.

Yes. ECCE covers the pre-school session itself; if your child is in care for longer hours, NCS can subsidise the rest. Your provider splits the fees across both schemes. See the funding guide for how they combine.

They mean the service is contracted into that scheme in official register data. Flags are refreshed from official sources, so a service's status can change between checks. Always confirm with the provider.

Every registered early-years service is inspected by Tusla's Early Years Inspectorate, and the reports are public. We link to the official report on each profile. Read our guide to reading them.

Listings are sourced from the official early-years register and refreshed regularly, but services open, close and change schemes. Treat listings as a starting point and confirm details directly with the provider.

If your service's details are wrong, or it's missing entirely, contact us and we'll update it from the register data.