The ECCE programme is a universal programme available to all children between the ages of 2 years and 8 months and 5 years and 5 months. The ECCE programme consists of a 3 hour session per day, 5 days a week over 38 weeks of the year.  It generally runs alongside the primary school year calendar.  

This programme is to support children in the early years of the educational journey and to prepare them for the transition to primary school education.

The ECCE programme encompasses Aistear, the Early Years Curriculum Framework and Siolta, the National Quality Framework.  Early Years Providers who sign up to offer this programme meet qualification and training requirements to provide this programme.

Children must be 2 years and 8 months by the 31st of August of the same year they will be enrolling in the programme.

Please see the table below or use our ECCE Calculator to see when they are eligible for the programme. 

The first stage of Programme Readiness for ECCE, NCS and the CCSP Saver Programme 2025/2026 is now available for services to complete on the Early Years Hive. 

Please note, Core Funding 2025/2026 will be available on Monday 9 June. Further details will be posted on the Early Years Hive.

Update on ECCE 2025/2026 Pre-contracting – Staff Qualification Documents

Please note that the requirement for service providers to upload staff qualifications during the ECCE pre-contracting process has been removed from the Early Years Hive for the 2025/2026 programme year. Uploading these documents is no longer a step required when submitting the ECCE Funding Agreement.

As a result, the associated forms – Form 1 (Qualifications Checklist) and Form 2 (Declaration of ECCE Qualifications) – will not be available on the Early Years Hive for the 2025/2026 programme year.

Activating Funding Agreements

Before you can activate a funding agreement, your service must ensure that the following information is up to date for 2025/2026: 

· Organisation details
· Service Provider details
· Primary Authorised User (PAU)
· Portal users
· Bank account
· Tusla registration
· Minimum numbers (ECCE only)

Also, that you have submitted the following:

· 2025/2026 Fee Table
· 2025/2026 Service Calendar (per programme)

Once these steps are completed, the Primary Authorised User (PAU) of your service can activate a funding agreement on the  All Programme Applications page of the Early Years Hive. 

You must also update your Parent Statement for the 2025/2026 programme year, but this step can be completed either before or after you activate a funding agreement.

Below is an important update on the Fee Table and Service Calendar for the 2025/2026 programme year and guidance on programme readiness tasks for each programme.

Fee Table/ Parent Statement and Service Calendar for 2025/2026 

You will need to submit your Fee Table and Service Calendar(s) for 2025/2026 before activating a funding agreement for ECCE, NCS, or the CCSP Saver Programme.

• Information on creating your Fee Table and your Parent Statement is available here. 
• Information on creating your Service Calendar for 2025/2026 is available here.

Guidance 

• Copies of the 2025/2026 funding agreements and programme rules for ECCE, NCS and CCSP Saver Programme can be found under the relevant programme heading on the Programme Documents page. 
• Guidance on completing programme readiness steps and activating a funding agreement for ECCE, NCS and CCSP Saver Programme can be found under the relevant programme heading on the Help and support page. 

Supports

Training: Training on programme readiness, the Fee Table and the Parent Statement is being held on 9 and 10 June. Training invites were posted on the Announcement page on 30 May.

A pre-recorded training webinar is available here

The PowerPoint slides and a questions and answers document will be available once both training sessions have been completed.

Checklists: Programme Readiness checklists for each programme can be found by clicking the links below:

• ECCE Checklist
• CCSP Checklist
• NCS Checklist

Help and support: If you have any questions about programme readiness, contact the Early Years Provider Centre (EYPC). Simply raise a Request on the Early Years Hive by selecting the relevant programme and request type from the dropdown menu.