Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 April 2024
1166. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth further to Parliamentary Question No. 431 of 24 January 2023, what changes, if any, have been made to the scheme since last year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15167/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe NCS Sponsorship arrangement allows designated bodies to refer children to the NCS where early learning and childcare is needed on child welfare, protection, family support or other specified grounds.
Where a referral is made by a Sponsor body, the family will automatically qualify for a subsidy without having to satisfy the Scheme’s eligibility, income or enhanced hours requirements. The Scheme will pay the full weekly cost of early learning and childcare for families referred to the Scheme by a Sponsor Body. The sponsor referral subsidy will increase to €5.30 per hour for all children over 1 from September 2024
The number of children supported through the NCS sponsorship arrangement has increased significantly in recent years. Owing, in part, to the requirement on services in contract for Core Funding to offer the NCS to all eligible families, including sponsored arrangements. Specifically, there has been a 52 per cent increase in the number of children supported through these arrangements (rising from 4,046 in the 2021/22 programme year to 6,133 in the 2023/24 programme year to date). My Department will begin an evaluation of the NCS this year. The NCS sponsorship arrangement will be in scope of that evaluation.
Separately, the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM), which supports children with disabilities to access the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme will be extended to ECCE-age children beyond time they spend in the ECCE programme, both in-term and out-of-term from September 2024. Further extensions to AIM are under consideration by my officials.
