395. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will permit the extension of a sponsored claim through the national childcare scheme to August 2027, which is due to expire on the 13 December 2026 for a child (details supplied). [75148/26]

There is no option to grant an extension for Sponsorship under the National Childcare Scheme (NCS). The referral criteria is set under the Childcare Support Act 2018 and the need for sponsored referral is a determination for the relevant Sponsored Body. Such determinations must also be made in line with the Sponsor Body defined referral criteria.

The Department does its best to ensure, insofar as possible, the equitable treatment of all children and families who are referred to the Scheme through Sponsorship. In order to ensure objectivity and fairness, it is essential that clear rules exist for the Scheme and that they are applied in a fair manner. The referral criteria forms an essential part of this to ensure that Sponsorship is administered in a fair and appropriate manner.

In the case of the HSE, the children in respect of whom financial support under this referral route will be granted include those:

Who are aged under 4 years of age who are not enrolled in a pre-school programme funded by the Minister or the Minister for Education and who would otherwise not attend a childcare service, and;

Who are deemed to be in need of early intervention and require additional supports under the domains of child developmental needs, parental capacity and environmental factors following completion of a Child and Family Health Needs Assessment by a Public Health Nurse, and;

Where there is an identified need for childcare as an additional support to the home environment to meet child developmental needs.

The purpose of the HSE criteria is to enable qualifying children to access early learning and care prior to their eligibility for the ECCE Programme, or equivalent i.e. primary school. The child referred to in this question will age out of HSE Sponsorship upon turning 4 years of age. Based on the criteria outlined above, this child will no longer be eligible for HSE Sponsorship.

While the family may no longer be eligible for HSE Sponsorship, it is open to them to apply for either a universal or income-assessed NCS subsidy:

• The universal subsidy is not subject to means testing and it provides €2.14 per hour for a maximum of 45 hours per week.

• Higher rates may be available through an income-assessed award depending on factors including the family income, child age and educational stage and the number of children in the family. Income-assessed awards start at €2.14 per hour and rates for a school-aged child may be worth as much as €3.75 per hour, depending on the family’s circumstances.

I would advise that the family applies for whichever subsidy is of the greatest benefit to them personally. A subsidy calculator is available on www.ncs.gov.ie which will help them estimate how much they are eligible for before going through the process of applying.

The family may also choose to avail of the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme. The ECCE Programme is a universal free programme available to all children within the eligible age range. It provides children with their first formal experience of early learning prior to commencing primary school. The ECCE Programme is provided for 3 hours per day, 5 days per week over 38 weeks per programme year. The programme year runs from August to the beginning of July. A child must have turned 2 years and 8 months on or before 31st August 2026 and not be older than 5 years and 6 months on or before 2nd July 2027, to be eligible for the 2026/2027 programme year.

Children enrolled in the ECCE Programme may also avail of the NCS. ECCE is not a mandatory programme and it is up to the parent/guardian whether an eligible child avails of a 2nd year.

Should the family require wider support in relation to their early learning and childcare needs, I would advise that they reach out to their local City/County Childcare Committee (CCC). The CCC's are best placed to provide support to parents on an individual level. Contact details may be found here: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-children-disability-and-equality/publications/city-and-county-childcare-committees/.