The application process for AIM Level 1 is now open for existing graduates.

Applications must be submitted via the Early Years Hive. Applicant guidelines can be found here. Prior to submitting the AIM Level 1 application, service providers must ensure that they have completed their ECCE programme readiness steps and activated the ECCE Funding Agreement.

Applications received by 5pm on Thursday 22 October 2026 will be awarded the additional capitation from the Inclusion Co-Ordinator’s employment start date relevant to the 2026/27 programme. Applicants are encouraged to apply early, as any applications received after this date will not be backdated.

New graduates (i.e. graduating in October 2026) can apply when final exam results have been notified by Mary Immaculate College (expected September 2026).

Should you have any queries in relation to the AIM Level 1 application process please contact the Early Years Provider Centre by raising a Request on the Hive using the following categories:

• Programme: AIM Level 1
• Request type: Application
• Request type detail: How To

Regards,

The Early Years Team

Registrations for the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) scheme 2026/2027 are now open on the Early Years Hive.

The ECCE 2026/2027 programme will commence on Monday 24 August 2026.

You can find guidance on how to register a child on ECCE on the ECCE Child Registration page under Resources on the Early Years Hive.

If you are registering a child for ECCE 2026 who was registered in your service for ECCE 2025, please add an additional, separate registration for ECCE 2026 and do not cancel the ECCE 2025 registration.

Important: If you are registering a child who intends to avail of AIM Level 7 support, please select the correct ECCE AM/PM session they will attend. This information determines the AIM Level 7 capitation funding awarded to the service. Selecting the incorrect session may result in funding being allocated incorrectly or delayed.

Regards,
The Early Years Team

We would like to remind you that NCS subsidies can only be paid once a CHICK has been registered and the parent/guardian has confirmed that all details are correct via the parent portal.

For payments to flow, all claim weeks for a child must be confirmed. Please review any unconfirmed claims for your service and request parental confirmation from applicants where necessary.

How to know if a claim needs to be confirmed by the parent/guardian?

A registration will display “No” under the “All Claims Confirmed by Parent?” column until all claim weeks have been confirmed.

Where a registration is displaying “No” it may be that there is an older claim still awaiting parent confirmation. Parent confirmation only changes to ‘Yes’ when the parent has confirmed all the claims for the child.

Update to Scheme rules

Please note clause 4.13 of the NCS 2026 Funding Agreement, “The Scheme Administrator may, at any time during the Term, establish an administrative process to cancel Unconfirmed Claims. The administrative process will provide for the cancellation of a Registered Claim which has not been confirmed by the Qualifying Applicant within 3 months of the expiry of the CHICK.”

If you have any questions, contact the Early Years Provider Centre (EYPC). Simply raise a Request on the Early Years Hive by selecting the relevant programme and request type from the dropdown menu.

Regards,

The Early Years Team

In recent programme readiness training, a high-level overview of new co-payment functionality was presented. We’d like to share with you a further update of the upcoming change, in advance of training scheduled before the new functionality goes live.

It is anticipated from 31 July 2026, new co-payment functionality will be incorporated into the NCS claim process, for any newly created or edited NCS claims, from this date. Please note, NCS claims submitted before 31 July 2026 will not require amendment to obtain co-payment information. However, if a claim is edited after this date e.g. to add or edit claimed hours, services will be prompted to complete co-payment information.
The new functionality aims to enable the system to auto calculate a parental co-payment. When introduced, the new functionality will be mandatory for completion.

Updated Pathway for NCS Claims

At the point of submitting a new claim, services will be presented with a new drop-down box, requesting the selection of one of two options:

– Manual Input

– Fee Table

Selecting the manual input option will direct a service to manually type in values for the purposes of calculating a co-payment.

Selecting the Fee Table option will direct a service to choose a fee from a summarised view of the active fee table and copy existing fee information into the new co-payment fields.

Information a service will be asked to provide include the agreed fee, the hours and minutes that correspond with the agreed fee, and if applicable any ECCE subsidy or weekly deductions. Some further information can be found in section 7.2 of the NCS policy guidelines.

Online Training and Guidance

Online training will be scheduled for services in the near future, with a recording of the first training session to be posted to the Early Years Hive shortly after. In addition, a training session will be scheduled in late August, for services closed for the summer break.

New guidance to support services with the updated process will also be developed and made available, in advance.

A further communication inviting services to scheduled online training dates on the new co-payment functionality will be issued in mid-July.

If you require support in relation to the detail contained in this announcement, please submit a request using the following categories:

• Programme: NCS
• Request Type: Registrations
• Request Type Details: Claim
• Summary: Co-payment claim functionality

We hope you have a pleasant summer.

Regards,
The Early Years Team

AIM Level 1 applications for existing graduates will open on the Early Years Hive in the coming weeks. Please monitor the announcement section on the Hive for any further updates regarding AIM Level 1.

Regards,

The Early Years Team

The Be Summer Ready campaign is also available for early learning and childcare services offering practical advice for the warmer weather, see here.

Kind regards,

Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare Division

We would like to advise service providers of a change to the 2026/2027 ECCE Calendar to give greater flexibility to ELC providers to facilitate their obligations under the terms of their ECCE funding agreements i.e. to provide 38 payable weeks/182 days over the 2026/2027 programme year.

The following updates to the minimum payable weeks in Term 1 and Term 3 have been made:

• Term 1: will now require 15 minimum payable weeks (previously 16)
• Term 3: will now require 8 minimum payable weeks (previously 9)

For further information on ECCE Calendar rules, and guidance on how to submit your calendar please, click here.

If you have any questions or need support, please raise a “Request” with the following selections:

• Programme: ECCE
• Request Type: ECCE Calendar
• Request Type Detail: General

Regards,

The Early Years Team

Please find attached invitations in English and Irish, QR codes to send to parents on Whatsapp and a  poster for your service.

The Department would be delighted if you could share My Little Library with Families.

Kind regards,

Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare Division