Minister Zappone Welcomes Commencement of School Age Childcare Regulations

Regulations requiring the registration of school-age childcare services came into effect today, 18th February 2019.

Childcare services for school-age children must now register with Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. School-age childcare services have not, to date, been subject to registration, so this is a significant step forward in ensuring quality school-age childcare.

Services that provide childcare for school-age children only must apply for registration by 18 May 2019 and are encouraged to start this process straightaway. School-age services that are already registered with Tusla as pre-school services must apply for registration by 18 August 2019. New services must apply for registration at least 3 months before opening.

Once registered, school age childcare services will be able to participate in the forthcoming Affordable Childcare Scheme launching in late 2019. This means families availing of these services will be able to access the financial benefits provided by the scheme.

Minister Zappone stated: “Today is another milestone in the development of quality, accessible and affordable early learning and care and school-age childcare in Ireland. I am delighted that the new School Age Childcare Regulations have now commenced. The new Regulations, which require that all school-age childcare services be registered with Tusla, will help to ensure that children attend services that are suitable, of high quality, and safe.”

The Regulations that came into force today are preliminary regulations. Later this year the Department of Children and Youth Affairs will embark on a public consultation process on the development of comprehensive regulations and national quality standards for school-age childcare.

Both the Regulations and an Explanatory Guide are available on the Department’s website.

School-age childcare services can apply for registration online at www.tusla.ie.

If a school-age childcare service wants any support regarding the registration process, they should contact their local city/county childcare committee www.myccc.ie.

Following feedback from the sector, the Minister has signed an amendment to the new School Age Childcare
Regulations which defers the commencement of the 1:12 adult-to-child ratio for a period of six months (to 18th
August 2019) to allow services sufficient time to adjust.