The National Childcare Scheme is the state's help with childcare costs. You do not receive the money yourself: the government pays it to your childcare provider, and your provider takes it off your bill. It is run by Pobal for the Department of Children, Disability and Equality.
There are two subsidies and you pick the one that suits you better. The income limits moved on 31 August 2026, and that matters for two groups in particular, so there is a section on it below.
The short version
- Universal subsidy
- €2.14 an hour per child, no means test, up to 45 hours a week
- Income-assessed subsidy
- Up to €5.10 an hour per child, depending on your circumstances
- Ages
- From 6 months (24 weeks) until the child turns 15
- Hours
- Up to 45 a week if you are working, studying or training; up to 20 if not
- Your provider must
- Be registered with Tusla and hold an NCS contract
- To apply you need
- A verified MyGovID, your child's PPS number, and your partner's PPS number if you have one
The two subsidies
Universal
€2.14 an hour per child, for up to 45 hours a week. It is not means-tested, so income is irrelevant: every family with a child in the age range and a participating provider can get it.
Income-assessed
Up to €5.10 an hour per child. This one is means-tested, and the exact rate depends on your reckonable income, your child's age and educational stage, and how many children you have. The headline figure is a ceiling, not what everyone receives.
You can apply for whichever is better for you. Broadly, if your reckonable income is above the upper threshold you are looking at the universal rate; below it, the income-assessed rate is usually worth more. If your income is at or under the lower threshold, you get the maximum rates.
Both subsidies need the same thing from your provider. They have to be registered with Tusla and hold a National Childcare Scheme contract. A Tusla registration on its own is not enough, so it is worth asking before you accept a place.
The income limits that changed on 31 August 2026
On 31 August 2026 both income thresholds for the income-assessed subsidy went up, so more families qualify than before. If you checked this scheme earlier in 2026 and concluded you earned too much, that conclusion is out of date.
- The lower threshold, the point at which you get the maximum rates, is €34,000. It was €26,000.
- The upper threshold, the ceiling for qualifying at all, is €68,000. It was €60,000.
The Multiple Child Discount went up on the same day, and it is worth understanding what it actually is, because the name suggests money and it is not. It is an amount taken off the income you are assessed on. The NCS defines reckonable income as your net family income minus allowable items, and the discount is one of them, so a bigger discount means a lower assessed income and potentially a better rate, or qualifying when you did not before.
- Two children under 15: €5,500, up from €4,300.
- Three or more children under 15: €11,000, up from €8,600.
The two changes stack. A larger discount lowers the income you are assessed on, and the upper threshold it is measured against is higher as well.
What to do depends on which subsidy you are on now:
- Already on the income-assessed subsidy? Nothing. The NCS recalculated existing awards using the new thresholds and discounts automatically, and writes to you if your rate changed. You do not re-apply.
- On the universal subsidy? This is the one to act on. If your income is between the old and new upper thresholds, you were shut out before and may not be now, so it is worth checking whether the income-assessed subsidy would pay you more.
How many hours you get
The subsidy covers a number of hours per week, and that number depends on what you and your partner are doing:
- Up to 45 hours if you are working, studying or training. Part-time hours, casual work and labour activation schemes all count.
- Up to 20 hours if you are not.
Time your child spends in ECCE or at school is not taken off your subsidised hours.
How your income is assessed
Only for the income-assessed subsidy. What counts is your reckonable income: your net family income from all sources, including most social welfare payments, after tax, PRSI and USC, with certain payments and deductions excluded.
If you are parenting alone, only your income is assessed. Another adult in the house who is not your partner, a parent or a relative for instance, does not count. A partner does.
You choose how it is checked:
- Automatic, or Fast Track. The NCS pulls the figures straight from Revenue and the Department of Social Protection using your PPS numbers. Quicker.
- Manual. You supply payslips or declarations and Pobal assesses them. Slower, and the application takes longer.
The assessment normally uses the previous tax year. For the 2026 to 2027 programme year that is 2025. If your income this year will be significantly lower, you can ask for the current year to be used instead, which triggers a manual review.
If your income drops, there is a second route
Asking for the current year to be used, above, is something you do at the assessment. The scheme also has a separate route for an income that falls after that: the sudden change assessment. It is meant for an ongoing change, which the policy guidelines describe as losing a job or a reduction in income for an indefinite duration.
The guidelines are equally clear about what it is not for: it does not apply to someone on term time or a shorter working year. The distinction being drawn is between an income that has fallen away and one you have arranged, with a date it comes back.
Unpaid maternity leave is not named anywhere in the guidelines. The word maternity does not appear in them at all. It is a drop with an end date, which resembles the excluded category, but nothing says so and Pobal is the one who decides. If you are in that position, ask the Parent Support Centre rather than assuming it either way, and ask before the fees mount up.
Two things about how it is worked out are worth knowing before you pick your moment:
- It looks at the four weeks before you apply, and multiplies them out to a year. That window can straddle two years, so an application in the first week of January can be assessed on three weeks of December and one of January.
- A once-off payment inside those four weeks counts as if you got it all year. The guidelines give the example of a once-off social welfare bonus week, and say plainly that it is extrapolated the same way and makes the award worse. The four weeks you happen to apply in are not neutral.
One more difference: a sudden change award runs for six months, not the twelve an ordinary assessment gets. After that you re-apply. And if you have had no change at all but want the current year used, the same route is open to anyone applying in January or February.
Applying, and what you need first
Applications are made online through the NCS website. Get these together before you start, because the first one is the item most likely to hold you up:
- A verified MyGovID account. A basic MyGovID login is not enough, and verification is not instant.
- Your child's details, including their date of birth and PPS number.
- Your employment and income details.
- Your partner's PPS number and their employment and income details. Your partner does not need their own verified MyGovID.
You can apply by post through the Parent Support Centre instead, but it takes longer and can push back the date your subsidy starts.
When you are approved you get a code called a CHICK, short for Childcare Identifier Code Key. You give it to your provider, who uses it with your child's name and date of birth to register the claim. Nothing comes off your bill until they do.
Subsidies run for a year and have to be renewed. You and your provider are notified at least 20 working days before yours expires. In some situations a 6-month renewal date is set instead.
Who decides, and where to ask
The scheme belongs to the Department of Children, Disability and Equality and is administered by Pobal. They decide eligibility and the rate, not your childcare provider, so a question about your subsidy goes to the NCS Parent Support Centre rather than to the crèche. Your provider's part is the registration with your CHICK, and setting their own fees.
If you think the award or the amount is wrong, there are two stages and both run on the same clock. You can ask Pobal to review the decision, within 30 working days of it. If you are still not satisfied after the review, you can appeal to an appeals officer who is independent of the scheme administrator, within 30 working days of the review decision. Working days, not calendar days, so a letter that sits unopened for a fortnight has spent less of the clock than it looks like, but not none of it.
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Official sources
- Citizens Information: National Childcare Scheme (NCS)
- Citizens Information: Universal childcare subsidy
- National Childcare Scheme: Types of subsidy
- National Childcare Scheme: Latest news, including the 31 August 2026 changes
- National Childcare Scheme: the official scheme website and subsidy calculator
- National Childcare Scheme: the policy guidelines (PDF) (the sudden change assessment: what it is for, what it excludes, the four week window and the six month award)
Facts checked against the official pages on 31 August 2026, and the sections on a falling income and on reviews and appeals against Citizens Information and the scheme policy guidelines on 14 September 2026. This is general information, not legal or financial advice, and it does not decide your eligibility or your rate. The Department of Children, Disability and Equality owns the scheme and Pobal administers it; they make every decision. Rates and thresholds are set by government and can change; always confirm on the official pages linked above, and use the official calculator for your own figures.