We are seeking the views of professionals working across health, social care, education, early years education and care, community and family support services.

The purpose of this short survey is to understand current levels of awareness and experience of IECMH, identify gaps and challenges, and establish priorities for the Network.

The survey should take approximately 5–7 minutes to complete.

Please see a link to the survey below

Staff Survey relevant to those working with infants and young children – Fill out form

Or scan the QR code on the poster for access to the survey

Responses will help inform the development of the Network’s priorities and future programme of work.

Minister for Children, Disability and Equality Norma Foley, today announced that over 90% of early learning and childcare services have signed up for the fifth year of Core Funding to date.

Core Funding is provided by the State to support early learning and childcare services and has been increased to a record level of €482 million for this programme year from September 2026 to August 2027.

The fee-freeze and maximum fee-caps which services must comply with under Core Funding have been key to the progress in recent years in improving the affordability of early learning and childcare services.

With uptake rates of Core Funding amongst early learning and childcare services now exceeding 90%, participation rates already remain consistent with previous years of Core Funding. Services can sign up to the fifth year of the scheme at any point over the course of the programme year, which further increases the percentage of services in Core Funding.

Minister Foley said:

“I am pleased to see such a strong sign up to Core Funding from early learning and childcare services. Core Funding supports parents by maintaining the fee freeze and maximum fee caps, and it also supports Partner Services to keep their doors open, recruit and retain staff, and deliver high-quality care.

“In the previous programme year, we saw over 4,600 services sign up to Core Funding. These were the highest numbers at any point since the scheme was launched in 2022.

Today, we have exceeded 4,600 services signing up to Core Funding for the fifth year and I expect that number to rise over the coming weeks and months.”

The €482 million in Core Funding for this programme year is an increase of over €90 million on the previous programme year. It brings the total investment by the state to over €1.7 billion in Core Funding since the scheme was first launched in 2022.

There are strengthened affordability measures for families in this fifth programme year of Core Funding. The maximum fee caps, which were introduced for First-Time Partner Services in 2024 and reduced and extended to all new and existing Partner Services in 2025, have been lowered again this September. This means that approximately 12% of services will be required to reduce at least one fee. The fee freeze will continue to operate in other services, ensuring that all families will continue to benefit from this measure.

Core Funding is also providing increased funding for all Partner Services in recognition of rising cost pressures for the sector. This will balance the need for affordable early learning and childcare with ensuring sustainability for the sector.

Around €45 million of ringfenced funding was made available in the fourth year of the scheme to support providers to meet the cost of increased minimum pay rates. These minimum pay rates arose from the new Employment Regulation Orders (EROs) which commenced in October 2025, following negotiation by the independent Joint Labour Committee (JLC).

The Department has allocated €45 million in ringfenced funding in this current Core Funding programme year to support Partner Services with the cost of increasing pay. That allocation is contingent to new EROs being established, which has been the subject of the recent negotiations at the Joint Labour Committee.

Minister Foley said:

“I secured a ringfenced €45 million to support providers meet pay costs that may arise from the Joint Labour Committee process in line with our Programme for Government to continue to implement Employment Regulation Orders to attract and retain early years educators and school-age childcare practitioners.

“I welcome the news of new proposals in minimum rates of pay for Early Years Educators and School-Age Childcare Practitioners negotiated by the Joint Labour Committee.

If these proposals are implemented through new Employment Regulation Orders, they will bring much-needed improvements in pay for these dedicated professionals, enhancing the quality of care and education provided to children across Ireland.

I am hopeful that these proposals will soon come into effect, marking a positive change for our dedicated and skilled staff in the early learning and childcare sector and the services that employ them.”

Alongside the increased Core Funding allocation of €482 million, Partner Services facing sustainability challenges can continue to avail of supports through the Department’s established case management process. This involves local City and County Childcare Committees and Pobal working together to assess and provide support including financial support to services experiencing difficulties.

For more information on Core Funding, including a list of Partner Services and allocations for previous programme years, please visit: Core Funding

The Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Norma Foley, has welcomed the new proposals for, over 6% increases to minimum rates of pay for Early Years Educators and School-Age Childcare Practitioners.

The proposals have been put forward by the Joint Labour Committee, which is made up of employer and worker representatives. It has the responsibility for setting minimum rates of pay for over 39,000 staff in the early years and childcare sector.

The Department of Children, Disability and Equality has allocated €45 million in ringfenced funding in this current Core Funding programme year to support Partner Services with the cost of increasing pay. That allocation is contingent to new EROs being established, which has been the subject of the negotiations at the Joint Labour Committee.

Minister Foley expressed her appreciation for the collaborative efforts of the Joint Labour Committee and acknowledged their independence in the negotiation process:

“The new proposals of on average over 6 per cent increases in minimum pay represent a significant step toward ensuring fair pay for educators and practitioners working in the sector. I am committed to ensuring the successful implementation of these proposals by providing a ring-fenced allocation of €45 million over a full year. This allocation has been specifically earmarked to support services in meeting the cost of the proposed increases in pay and conditions.”

“I would like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the Joint Labour Committee in these negotiations and their vital role in advancing the professionalism and value of those working in the sector.

“If these proposals are implemented through updated Employment Regulation Orders, they will bring much-needed improvements in pay for these dedicated professionals, enhancing the quality of care and education provided to children across Ireland.

“I am hopeful that these proposals will soon come into effect, marking a positive change for our dedicated and skilled staff in the early learning and childcare sector and the services that employ them.”

The deadline for submission of the 2026/27 QIP Plan is Monday 02 November 2026.

The 2026/27 QIP Plan Guidance Document and Technical Guidance Videos can be found here.

Should you require support getting started, if you experience technical difficulties, or at any stage of your Quality and Inclusive Practice Planning process please contact your local City or County Childcare Committee.

The 2026 Learner Fund Graduate and Childminder Bursary is open for applications between Monday 14^th September and 5pm on Friday 9^th October 2026.

To receive an application form, please contact your local City/County Childcare Committee (CCC). Completed applications must be received within the deadline by your local City/County Childcare Committee (CCC) who will process applications, for appraisal by the DCDE.

The rules for the Graduate Bursary and the Childminder Bursary are set out below.

The Learner Fund Bursary amount for 2026 will remain set at €1000.

For 2026, the Learner Fund Graduate Bursary is open to Early Learning and Care practitioners who fulfil the following eligibility criteria:

• have graduated in 2024, 2025 or 2026 only;
• have graduated with a Quality Advisory Board (QAB) approved Early Learning and Care Degree Programme at Level 7 or 8 only.  The list can be viewed here: 20260409_List_of_Approved_Programmes_for_Adherence_to_the_Professional_Award_Criteria_and_Guideline…
• For 2026, the Learner Fund Childminder Bursary is open to childminders who fulfil the following eligibility criteria:

• applicants must currently be a Tusla registered Childminding Service.

• have graduated in 2024, 2025 or 2026 only;

• have graduated with Level 5, or 6 award on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ)

or

• have graduated with a Quality Advisory Board (QAB) list of approved Early Learning and Care Degree Programmes at level 7 or 8 only.  The list can be viewed here: 20260409_List_of_Approved_Programmes_for_Adherence_to_the_Professional_Award_Criteria_and_Guideline…

If demand for Learner Fund Graduate Bursary funding exceeds the available budget, policy-based selection criteria will apply, as set out in the rules of the scheme.

Completed applications for the 2026 Learner Fund Graduate and Childminder Bursary must be received by your local CCC by 5pm on Friday 9th October 2026.

Equal Start Staffing Supports programme year 2026/2027 is now open and will operate from 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2027.

Services eligible for Equal Start Staffing Supports will have received a notification on the Early Years Hive.

To qualify for payment under the Equal Start Staffing Supports Programme, designated Equal Start Priority and Transitional Services must:

• Be designated as a Tier 1, Tier 2, or Transitional Service through the Equal Start Identification Model.
• Have submitted a Core Funding Partner Service Funding Agreement for 2026/2027.
• If a service’s original Core Funding Application Module was submitted on or before 31 August 2026, the service must have reached an Approved status for the August Review and Confirm process under Core Funding 2026/2027.
• If a service’s original Core Funding Application Module is submitted on or after 1 September 2026, the service must have reached an Approved status on the original application.

Services will be eligible for funding from 1 September or from the week they submitted the Core Funding Partner Service Funding Agreement 2026/2027, whichever is later.

To view Staffing Supports allocations, please visit the Funding Tab on the Early Years Hive. Further documents, including ‘How to view your Equal Start Staffing Supports Allocation’ and the ‘Equal Start Staffing Support payment schedule’, are also available under the Resource section of Early Years Hive.

For further guidance and support, the Equal Start Programme Rules 2026/2027 and Equal Start Frequently Asked Questions 2026/2027 are now available on the Early Years Hive in the Equal Start section of Help and Support.

If you require any further assistance or clarification on the above, please contact the Early Years Provider Centre by raising a Service Request on the Early Years Hive.

Regards,
The Early Years Team

We are pleased to confirm that AIM Level 7 payments for the 2026/2027 programme call have been processed and should be in bank accounts by 7 September 2026. This marks an important milestone for the 2026/2027 programme year and the introduction of the new streamlined AIM Level 7 application and funding process.

Please note that AIM Level 7 payments for the 2026/2027 programme call will now be made one week in arrears, aligning with ECCE and/or NCS registration and claims.

AIM resources for service providers

A range of supports are available on the AIM Level 7 guidance page in Help & Support:

• The how-to guide on understanding AIM Level 7 Capitations and Allocations is available [/How-to-view-AIM-L7-Capitations-and-allocations.pdf]
• The AIM Level 7 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document is available [/AIM-Level-7-FAQ.pdf]

Contact us

For queries regarding the AIM programme, please contact the Early Years Provider Centre (EYPC) by raising a request on the Early Years Hive using the following categories:

1. Programme: Select the relevant AIM Level
2. Request Type: Application
3. Request Type Detail: How To

Kind regards,

The Early Years Team

We are delighted to announce the latest of our rolling training, Journey Through the Early Years Hive. This training will benefit those wishing to refresh their Early Years Hive navigation skills and new Early Years Hive users.

Please note: this training will not include programme specific content. We kindly ask that questions asked on the day are kept to the topic of the Early Years Hive functionality and navigation.

Please find the registration links below:

• Session 1: Wednesday 09 September at 10.30am
• Session 2: Thursday 10 September at 10.30am

As part of this training, we will explore:

• What is the Early Years Hive?
• Navigation overview (Menu tabs)
• Searching in the Early Years Hive
• Focus Areas: 
• Service registration
• Service calendar
• User roles & access management
• Child registration (NCS, ECCE, CCSP Saver)
• General Early Years Hive good practice
• Support tools & on – screen messages
• Poll and feedback
• Questions & Answers

Future sessions will be announced on a rolling basis on the announcements section on the Early Years Hive. You are very welcome to extend the invitation to members of your team who would benefit from this training.

We look forward to having you attend this event.

Regards,

The Early Years Team

The new NCS programme call 2026/2027 has commenced and NCS on-site inspections will continue. The compliance process will involve a series of standardised checks aimed at confirming adherence with programme rules, contract conditions and relevant legislation as set out by the Department of Children, Disability and Equality (DCDE).

To ensure minimum disruption and expedite the compliance inspection, it is advised that services prepare for an unannounced NCS compliance inspection. We recommend that services collate relevant information for review (e.g. Parent Statements etc.) in a Compliance File which can be made readily available to the Visit Officer(s) on arrival. Access to child Attendance and Fee records must also be available on-site to enable the Visit Officer(s) to complete the compliance inspection in a reasonable timescale.

In this regard we request that the person in charge on-site has access to the Compliance File / records in the event of an unannounced inspection. Please only maintain compliance related information in the Compliance File.  NB: NCS inspections require 12 months of records available and accessible for review.

We also bring your attention to a number of important NCS related reminders previously published on Hive:

• Guidance on Attendance record keeping was published on the Hive on 17/06/2024, included the following extract:

           ‘…it is advised that the format of the attendance records is not daily sheets, but rather that each page shows at least one week of attendance (i.e. weekly sheets/roll books). This will greatly support services when tracking attendance patterns of individual children, to assist in submitting weekly NCS Hive returns and keeping ECCE and CCSP Saver Programme registrations up to date.’

• Guidance on registering children on NCS who are in education (i.e. in school or ECCE) was published on the Hive on 28/04/2025 which included the following:

           “It is important to note that the child should only be registered on NCS for hours that they require and intend to be present in the service. In particular, NCS subsidised hours cannot be claimed for hours that the child is in education (i.e. ECCE or school).”

With the commencement of the NCS 2026/2027 inspection cycle, the Pobal Compliance team have updated the relevant NCS compliance support documents which are available on the Hive under the Resources section. These documents are listed below and can also be accessed through this link– 

• NCS Compliance Checklist for Providers 2026/2027
• NCS Compliance Provider Guide 2026/2027
• NCS Post Inspection Rectification Actions for Providers 2026/2027
• Accessing the NCS Compliance Report on Hive 2026/2027

Please note – these documents are only supports, intended to assist you. There is an onus on each Provider to familiarise themselves with their responsibilities under the NCS legislative and contractual conditions.

In addition, 3 webinars on the NCS Compliance process 2026/2027 are going to be scheduled for Providers on the 15 and 16 September 2026. Each webinar will cover the same content. We encourage you to take the opportunity to attend a webinar.  Following the conclusion of the webinar sessions, a recording of a session will also be made available on the Hive with the Powerpoint slides.

A further announcement will be issued in advance of compliance inspections commencing on other programmes e.g. ECCE/CCSP/AIM.

We want to take this opportunity to thank services in advance for your continued co-operation with compliance checks.

Regards

Pobal & DCDE Compliance Teams