Application Guide

This is a step-by-step guide to the online application process. If you are making a Universal application you will only need to follow Step 1, 2, 3, 5, 11 and 12.


If you are making an Income Assessed application you will need to follow all of the Steps. If you receive a standard hours Income Assessed award (20 hours) depending on the hours of childcare required, a Universal award may be more beneficial. 


If you are applying for a ‘sudden change’ assessment, please note your assessment will be based on the four weeks prior to your application. If you received any once-off income during this period, such as a social welfare Christmas bonus, this will be extrapolated to a full year and may negatively affect your award.


If you have any questions or require further support with your application you can Contact Us.


If you would like to apply by post, please contact the Parent Support Centre on 01 906 8530, Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm.


*Ukrainian Refugees are eligible to apply for the NCS under point 4 of the eligibility criteria (4. An Asylum Seeker or Programme Refugee).

Step 1 - Getting Started

To Start An Application:

Click the Sign In tab at the top of the page. Use your verified MyGovID to sign in to the National Childcare Scheme.

Once you have signed in, click the My Applications tab at the top of the page. Choose View Applications from the drop down menu.

Click the 'New Application' button to start an application.

If at any stage during your application you require help you may use the Queries button at the bottom of the page to contact the Parent Support Centre.

Choose the type of subsidy you want to apply for:

Click ‘Start Universal Application’ for Universal subsidies.

Click 'Start Income Assessed Application' for Income Assessed subsidies.

You will then need to read the National Childcare Scheme Data Privacy Statement. If you are happy with the information and wish to proceed click 'Accept'.

Click 'Next' to save and go to the next page.

Step 2 - Eligibility

On this page you will be asked to confirm that you are eligible to apply for a subsidy.

To be eligible you (or your partner, if you have one) must meet one of the below eligibility requirements.

Please note, if you have a partner only one of you needs to meet one of the following criteria:

1. Ordinarily Resident in the Republic of Ireland with a legal right to live here

This means that you have been living in the State for at least a year or that you intend to live here for at least a year and in either case have a right to reside in the State.

OR

2. A National of an EU member state*

The EU member states are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden.

OR

3. A National of Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein or *United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (this definition includes the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man).

OR

4. An Asylum Seeker or Programme Refugee

This means that you must have a valid temporary residence certificate issued by the Minister for Justice, or be a Programme Refugee within the meaning of Section 59 of the International Protection Act 2015.

OR

5. Formerly employed or self-employed in the Republic of Ireland and still entitled to one of the social security payments listed

If you or your partner (if you have one) do not meet any of the above requirements you are not eligible to apply for a subsidy under the Childcare Support Act 2018.

Once you have selected the relevant answer, click 'Next' to save and go to the next page.

*Citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland will be able to access the National Childcare Scheme on the same basis as Irish citizens. The Brexit Omnibus Bill is incorporating this text into an amendment to the Childcare Support Act 2018 at sections 7 and 15.

Amendments to the Childcare Support Act 2018 contained in the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Consequential Provisions) Bill 2020 allows for citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (this definition includes the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) to continue to apply for the National Childcare Scheme post Brexit.

Step 3 - Where Do You Live?

On this page you will need to provide your current address.

You can enter either your Eircode or your full address into the Eircode bar. The system will then populate the relevant fields. If no result is found you will be able to manually enter your address. 

Once you have checked that the information is correct, click 'Next' to save and go to the next page.

Step 4 - Do You Live With A Partner?

If you are living with your partner, you will be asked to fill in your partner's:

  • Name,
  • Personal Public Service Number (PPSN)
  • Date of Birth
  • Email Address

We will use this information to confirm their identity, and to retrieve income information from both the Office of the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Social Protection as laid out in the Date Privacy Statement.

You should only use your partner's PPSN for the purposes of making an application for a childcare subsidy. You should tell your partner before providing their details.

We will contact your partner using the email address provided and tell them how we are using their data. This will also give your partner an opportunity to object.

Your application will be processed faster if your partner clicks the link in the email to proceed with the assessment as soon as they receive the email.

Once you have filled in all the information, click 'Next' to save and go to the next page.

Step 5 - Child Details

On this page you will be asked to provide the Name, Personal Public Service Number (PPSN) and Date of Birth for each of the children you are adding to the application, as well as your relationship to that child. 

All children under 15 years of age should be added to the same application. There should only be one NCS application per household.

(Exceptions may apply. If you are unsure, please contact the Parent Support Centre for more information.)

You will also be asked if there is a Subsidy Requested for the child.

You may add children to your application either:

  • To apply for a subsidy for the child: In this case you answer 'Yes' to this question.

Or

  • For the purpose of the Multiple Child Discount only:  In this case you will answer 'No' to this question and you will not receive a subsidy for this child.

If you have more than one child under 15 in your family you can get a Multiple Child Discount on your reckonable income. The Multiple Child Discount reduces your reckonable income by:

  • €4,300 for families with 2 children under 15
  • €8,600 for families with 3 or more children under 15

    You will also be asked about your child’s Education Stage. This determines the hourly rate and the maximum number of hours available per week.

    Education Stages:

    • Pre ECCE: The period before your child qualifies for the free prechool programme ECCE. We will know this based on the child's age.
    • ECCE / ECCE Eligible: to be eligible to start ECCE in 2021 your child must be born in 2018. Even if your child does not use the ECCE programme they are still considered 'ECCE Eligible'.
    • Early Start: This is a scheme run by the Department of Education and Skills in 40 schools around the country. It is limited to children aged between 3 and 5 years old on the 1st of September.
    • Junior/Senior Infants
    • 1st to 6th Class
    • Post Primary

    Current education stage:

    If your child may qualify for a number of education stages based on their age you will be asked to choose the relevant education stage from the drop-down menu.

    Next Education Stage:

    If your child will change educational stage in the next 12 months you will be asked to choose the next appropriate education stage and provide a start date. If you are unsure of the start date you can estimate one and update us when you know.

    Once you have filled in all the information, click 'Next' to save and go to the next page.

    Step 6 - About Your Availability

    Depending on your availability (and your partner's, if you have one), the hours awarded to you are either standard or enhanced.

    Standard awards give a maximum of 20 hours subsidised childcare per week. 

    Enhanced awards give a maximum of 45 hours subsidised childcare per week. 

    Both you and your partner, if you have one, need to meet certain requirements to qualify for enhanced hours.
    You will qualify for enhanced hours if you (and your partner, if you have one) are either:

    • Employed
    • Self Employed
    • In Education/Training (course leading to an award on the NFQ)

    If you answer employment or self-employment you must give the name of your employer or the trading name of your company and the contact details.

    For education/training, you must give the name of the provider and the course. You will be asked to answer Yes or No to the question ‘Does this course lead to an award on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ), or the equivalent level as recognised by the National Academic Recognition Centre (NARIC)?’ You will also be asked to provide the level. If your course does not lead to an award on the NFQ, you will be eligible for a standard hours award only.

    Further Education and Training (FET) courses lead to awards at levels one to six on the NFQ. FET courses offer a wide variety of life-long education options to anyone over 16. FET includes apprenticeships, traineeships, Post Leaving Cert (PLC) courses, community and adult education as well as core literacy and numeracy services. FET courses are provided through the Education and Training Board network nationwide as well as through other local providers including online through SOLAS’ eCollege. 

    To find a FET course visit fetchcourses.ie, thisisfet.ie and apprenticeship.ie or contact your local Education and Training Board. 

    If you are unsure about the level of your course, you should contact your education provider.

    If you have more than one employment, self-employment, or a combination of employment and studying you only need to include one of these in your application. 

    If you are in education/training and the course you are doing does not lead to an award on the NFQ, you can opt to select ‘None of the above’ instead of ‘Education / Training’ and proceed to answer the additional questions.

    You may also qualify for enhanced hours if you are unavailable to care for your child for one of the reasons listed on the form.

    You are entitled to four weeks of enhanced hours:

    • Before commencing work or education
    • Following the end of employment or education.

    Once you have filled in all the information, click 'Next' to save and go to the next page.

    Step 7 - About Your Assessment

    On this page you will be asked to provide income related details for your application.

    If you have a partner and you are assessed as a couple by Revenue then you will be jointly assessed for the Scheme too. This is because jointly assessed couples share tax credits.

    If you are not sure if your and you partner are assessed as a couple you can visit the Revenue website for more information.

    If you are not assessed as a couple by Revenue you and your partner can choose to be assessed differently for the Scheme.

    The quickest way for your income to be assessed is to use the 'Fast Track' option.

    A Fast Track assessment will gather information from Revenue and DSP for the most recent year that full income information is available. In general this is either last year or the year before.

    You can choose not to Fast Track your assessment if:

    1. Your income has decreased significantly from the previous tax year
    2. You want to opt out of an automatic assessment

    This will require you to upload documents.

    Please note where you upload documents your assessment will take longer to process than Fast Track assessments.

    If you have had an ongoing reduction in your income and you do not know when your income is likely to increase again you can choose to be assessed on the last 4 weeks. In this case, we will extrapolate your income details out and you will receive a shorter subsidy award.

    Once you have filled in all the information, click 'Next' to save and go to the next page.

    Step 8 - About Your Income

    On this page you will be asked what your income sources are. We will then tell you any documents you need to upload on the document upload page which appears at the end of the application form.

    PAYE: If you are an employee you normally pay tax through PAYE

    If you are applying for last year you may be asked to provide a copy of your Statement of Liability and a copy of your Employment Detail Summary for each employment.

    You can get these documents from Revenue.

    Otherwise you will need to provide a National Childcare Scheme PAYE Form for each employment. 

    Download the NCS PAYE Form.

    Form 11 / Self Assessed Income: If you earn any non-PAYE income over €5000 this must be declared to Revenue using a Form 11.

    If you are applying using Last Year’s income and a Form 11 has been filed, you are asked to provide a Notice of Assessment.

    You can download this document from Revenue.

    If a Form 11 has not yet been filed with Revenue you are asked to provide the National Childcare Scheme Self-Assessment Form. 

    Download the NCS Self-Assessment Form.

    Form 12: A Form 12 is used to declare non-PAYE income of €5000 or less to Revenue Commissioners.

    Note: If you have completed a Form 11 in a tax year you will not have declared income on a Form 12.

    DSP Payments: These are any payments, including Child Benefit, that you have received from the Department of Social Protection.

    If you receive any DSP payments you will be asked if you would like us to retrieve any DSP payment information automatically. If you answer 'Yes' to this you do not need to provide any DSP documents.

    If you answer 'No' you will need to provide a Payments Statement. You can get this document from the Department of Social Affairs and Employment Protection.

    You can request this form on the mywelfare.ie website using your verified MyGovID.

    Once you have filled in all of the relevant information, click 'Next' to save and go to the next page.

    Step 9 - Any Additional Income to Declare?

    On this page you will be asked to declare any additional income from the following sources:

    Maintenance Received: Any Spousal or Child Maintenance received by you (and your partner, if you have one.)

    Note: If you have previously included this information on a Form 11 or 12 to Revenue you should answer NO.

    Maintenance Paid: Spousal or Child maintenance paid out by you (and your partner, if you have one). This should be net of taxes.

    Income Earned outside the Republic of Ireland: Any income earned outside of the Republic of Ireland. This should be net of taxes.

    You must declare this information even if you have declared it on a Form 11 or Form 12.

    Private Pension Contributions: These are any contributions made by you (and your partner, if you have one) to a private contribution not including any made through your employer, or included on a Form 11 or Form 12 to Revenue.

    Once you have filled in all of the relevant information, click 'Next' to save and go to the next page.

    Step 10 - Document Upload

    On this page you can upload any documents that are required for your income assessment. The documents that you upload will be reviewed and assessed by an officer of the Scheme Administrator.

    To upload a document you can scan it to your computer or take a picture of it with your phone and then upload the image.

    If you reach the document upload page and do not have the documents that you need ready, you can save and close your application and return at a later stage with the documents.

    To upload a document click on the 'Add Document' button. Choose the Document Type and the Document Tax Year from the drop down menus. Select the file you want to upload and press the 'Submit' button. 

    Once you have uploaded all of the documents required, click 'Next' to save and go to the next page.

    Step 11 - Application Summary

    On this page you can review each part of application. Check that all of the information you have included is correct.

    If you were asked to upload any documents make sure that you have included them all.

    You can back to any of the pages if you need to by pressing the 'Previous' button at the end of the page.

    Once you have reviewed all of the information in your application press 'Next' to save and go to the next page.

    Step 12 - Submit your Application

    On this page you will be asked to declare that:

    1. You have read and accept the National Childcare Scheme Terms and Conditions
    2. All of the information you have included is complete and accurate

    You can then 'Submit' your application.

    Timeline for completion of an NCS application

    The turnaround time for application approval is dependent on the following factors:

    • Application Type e.g. Universal or Income Assessed.
    • Application Route e.g. Income Assessed, with or without partner.
    • Medium e.g. Online or Offline (Postal).
    • That all required information has been provided.

    Typically, Universal applications have the quickest turnaround times followed by Fast- Track and then Manual Income Assessed applications.  The offline application process will take considerably longer.

    Below is a guide as to overall turnaround times per application type.

     Application Type *Timeline for Completion
     Universal Application Same day
     Income Assessed Fast Track Application (no partner) 5-10 working days
     Income Assessed Application (with partner) 5-15 working days
     Manual Income Assessed Application 5-15 working days
     Offline Applications
    • Universal Applications
    • Income Assessed Applications
    • Same day
    • Up to 8 weeks


    *all times are dependent on all required information being submitted as part of the initial submission. 

    Note:

    • There is no retrospective subsidies awarded. A CHICK will only be valid from the Monday following full completion of the application.
    • In some instances, for Income Assessed & Offline Applications, we may require further information to progress the application.  The completion of the application is paused until the required information is received and reviewed. The onus is on the applicant to submit this information once requested, at their earliest convenience. 
    • For Income Assessed applications that include a partner, consent of the partner is required to process the application. The applicants’ partner has 7 days to consent to the NCS Privacy Statement. During that time, the application will be paused unless partner consent has been submitted. If partner consent is submitted within the 7-day period, the application will proceed. If partner consent is not received, by the 8th day the application will be progressed automatically.

    Renewing an Application

    Please see the NCS Application Renewal Guide for a step-by-step breakdown on how to renew an application. You will also find how to update or amend an existing application in this guide.

    Application Validation

    You may be contacted to validate the information provided in your NCS application.

    If you are unable to validate the information in your application, your award may be cancelled or reassessed, and you may be liable to repay the difference in the value of the subsidy received.

    Please see the NCS FAQ for more information on application validation.