Parents may be entitled to childcare subsidy scheme of up to €230 a week thanks to a lesser known social welfare payments.
The National Childcare Scheme (NCS) provides financial support to help parents to meet the costs of childcare and parents could qualify for up to €230 a week depending on the criteria they meet within the scheme - RSVP Live reports.
The NCS provides two types of childcare subsidy for children over six months of age, these include:
A universal subsidy for children under three. Children over three who have not yet qualified for the ECCE are also eligible. It is not means tested.
An income-assessed subsidy for children up to 15. It is means tested.
However, you cannot get the Universal Subsidy and an income-assessed subsidy at the same time, but instead you can choose which subsidy will benefit you more.
Your childcare provider is required to be registered with Tusla and have a National Childcare Scheme contract with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.
This can include childminders and school-age childcare services.
To avail of this scheme, you must apply for the subsidy which will then be paid directly to your childcare provider. It will then be subtracted from your childcare bill.
There are specific criteria that people must meet in order to be eligible for NCS, these include:
Relationship to the child: You or your current partner must be a parent of the child or acting in loco parentis (this means acting as a parent to the child).
Residency status: You must be ordinarily resident in Ireland and have a legal right to live here (that is, you are either a national of an EU/EEA member state or Switzerland, or have immigration status or leave to remain).
PPS numbers: You must provide your own PPS number and the PPS number of the child or children you are applying for.
Age of the child: To qualify for the universal subsidy, your child must be above the age of 6 months but below the age when they can start the free ECCE scheme. To qualify for the income assessed subsidy, your child must be between 6 months (24 weeks) to 15 years.
To find out more about the NCS and how much you may qualify for, you can click here.
