Budget 2018 offers two free years under ECCE scheme

BUDGET 2018 announcements of an increase in funding for the Early Childhood Care and Education scheme (ECCE) will come as a welcome boost to families. Minister for Children, Katherine Zappone said entitlement under the current Early Childhood Care and Education scheme would expand from September 2018 to two free years for children aged at least two years and eight months.

ECCE essentially means the state pays capitation fees to participating playschools and daycare services which in return provide a pre-school service free of charge to all children within the qualifying age range for a set number of hours over a set period of weeks. Children will be able to enroll in pre-school at 3 different points (September, January and April) in the school year in order to access the scheme. The school year is normally from September to June.

The extension means more crèches can now register for the programme, which offers sessional Montessori for a full 2 years. In total, this will represent a capitation increase of 7% from September, 2018.

Enrolling a child in childcare services can be a hard decision for parents or guardians, one that requires them to take into account the child’s age when applying, the hours and length of time spent in childcare, your budget, assessing and finding out where the best service options are in your area, while deciding on what kind of childcare best suits your lifestyle is also important as there is a varied cross-section available: sessional services, full or part-time, drop-in centres, childminding, full day care services, even overnight childcare services which facilitates the working arrangements of parents/guardians for a total of more than 2 hours between the hours of 7pm and 6am.

It’s envisaged that an additional 25,000 children will now benefit from the change in 2018. Moreover, the new scheme will also abolish the current ambiguity whereby children born in September 2015 were only entitled to 61 weeks of free pre-school.

For more information on how to avail of the Early Childhood Care and Education scheme, contact Kerry County Childcare Committee located at Monavalley Business Park, Tralee on: 066 7181582. Or visit: www.kerrycountychildcare.com