Over 4000 children in the Shannonside region benefitted from The National Childcare Scheme in 2024. The NCS provides financial support to help families with their early learning and childcare costs. Speaking in the Dail on Tuesday, Minister for Children, Disability and Equality Norma Foley revealed how the Scheme has undergone a number of enhancements in recent years to further improve affordability for parents.
These include the extension of the Universal subsidy to all children under 15 and two increases to the minimum hourly subsidy, which is now worth €2.14 per hour. Foley went on to say how the enhancements have helped to result in a positive growth in the number of children benefitting from NCS subsidies. In Leitrim the number of children to have benefitted from the scheme rose from 88 to 1,136, in Longford the numbers went from 86 to 1,003, and Roscommon's figures rose from 154 to 1,915.
