ECCE & NCS Schemes
The Early Childhood Care & Education Scheme (ECCE)
National Childcare Scheme (NCS)
All children born on or after 1 January 2018 must register for the NCS to access childcare fee subsidies.
how to apply
The easiest and fastest way to apply is online at:
https://ncs.gov.ie/en/
What You Will Need
- A verified MyGovID account
- Your child’s details: date of birth and PPSN
- Employment and income details for an income-assessed subsidy if household net income is under €60,000(otherwise apply for the Universal subsidy)
- Your partner’s PPSN, employment, and income details (if you are part of a couple)
More Important Information
How to Get a Verified MyGovID Account
To obtain a verified account, you will need:
- A basic MyGovID account
- A Public Service Card with a verified mobile phone number
For full instructions:
https://www.ncs.gov.ie/en/how-to-apply/
If You Don’t Have a Public Services Card
You must apply by post.
- Contact the Parent Support Centre: 01 906 8530
- Available Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm
Note: Postal applications take longer and may delay your subsidy start date.
After Your Application is Approved
- You will receive an NCS Award for each child, which includes:
- CHICK key (Childcare Identifier Code Key)
- Rate and number of eligible hours
- Share this information with us so we can register your child on the NCS HIVE portal.
Next Steps
- After receiving your CHICK key, send it to Giraffe by completing our online form.
- We will register your child and the hours on the HIVE system.
- You will receive a government notification asking you to confirm the details.
- Once you confirm, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs will pay the subsidy to us, and we will deduct it from your monthly fee.
Important
If you do not validate our registration on the HIVE Portal, we cannot deduct the subsidy from your fees.
LilyPad Crèche & Montessori is a registered provider of the ECCE Government Scheme.
In April 2009, the government introduced the Early Childhood Care & Education Scheme (ECCE) to provide one year of free pre-school education for children in Ireland. This scheme is available to children aged between 3 years 3 months and 4 years 6 months on September 1st of each year.
How It Works
At LilyPad, we run the free ECCE programme for 3 hours per day (9:00am – 12:00pm, five days a week for 38 weeks, totalling 183 days of free early education.
For children enrolled in full or part-time daycare, the ECCE payment is applied as a fee reduction of €245.10 per month for 10 months.
To register for your free ECCE place, please contact us at info@lilypad.ie