Setting Up a New Service

We have included information and links below which you may find useful in beginning your journey to setting up a service.

Setting up a Childcare Service –
Following topics detailed at https://myccc.ie/setting-up-a-childcare-service

Getting Started – Research
Determine the legal status of your Early Learning & Care and/or School Age Childcare service
Business Plan
Identify and/or Design a Suitable Premises
Register with Tusla, the Child and Family Agency
Selection and Recruitment of Staff
Implementing Quality Childcare Provision
Areas of Compliance and Inspection

Start Up Quality Support

The staff at Westmeath CCC are available to provide support and information on:

Tusla Registration
Regulatory Guidance
Inspection Support

Tusla Early Years Inspectorate

If you are planning to set up a preschool service, you will need to notify the relevant Tusla Early Years Inspector for your area in advance. Here is the list of Early Years Inspectors

The Tusla documents below provide useful information on registration and compliance with regulations:

The Tusla Registration Q&A document is now available online, it includes questions frequently asked to the Registration Department of Tusla Early Years Inspectorate: these questions relate to new applicants and existing registered providers wishing to make a change to their service.

Tusla Early Years Quality and Regulatory Framework documents were developed to set out in a clear way the requirements for statutory compliance with regulations for registered services, the stakeholders and parents or guardians.

Further information including legislation are available from the DCEDIY & Tusla wesbites:

Start Up Business Support

The staff at Westmeath CCC are available to provide support and information on:

Identifying the need for a new setting
Business operations and viability
DCEDIY Funding programmes available and other funding sources

Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) Childcare Funding Programmes

For information on the various Childcare Funding Programmes available visit the Funding Programmes section of this website. Additional information on the National Childcare Scheme including FAQ’s and information for parents is available on the NCS website:

Accessing DCEDIY Funding Programmes

The National Childcare Scheme (NCS) or the Early Childhood Care and Education programme (ECCE) are both administered on the Early Years Hive, if you are offering these funding programmes, you will need to complete the on-boarding process first as detailed below:

If you are a new service provider or your service is looking to access the Early Years Hive for the first time, you are required to complete a quick on-boarding process first. To complete this process and create your account, you must enter the following information:

Organisation details
Service provider details
Tusla registration number

You will also be asked to upload a valid copy of your identification to verify who you are. Accepted forms of ID include:

Passport
Driving licence
PSC card
National identity Card for EU/EEA/Swiss citizens

Useful Resources:

Child Care Act 1991 Early Years Services Regulations 2016
Child Care Regulations (The Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) (Amendments) Regulations 2016
Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) (Registration of School Age Services) Regulations 2018.
Universal Design Guidelines : offers guidance on the refurbishment, renovation and building of centres for Early Learning and Care in Ireland.
Tusla document: A Guide to Fire and Planning Requirements for Early Years Services Re-Registration and Change of Circumstances Process – August 2019
School Age Childcare: A Guide to Good Practice is a useful guide in relation to setting up an Afterschool service for school aged children (if applicable)
A Parent’s Guide to the Childcare Funding Programmes 2019-2020 which includes information on various funding programmes. (A Parent’s Guide to Childcare Funding Programmes 20-21 will be published soon)
Fingal CCC Opening a Childcare Service
‘We like this place’ is useful for design and layout guidance (please note as this is an older document the EarlyYearsRegs2016 attached has updated information in relation to space requirements and regulations)
Writing a Business plan
Microfinance Ireland

With the re-opening of Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare services following closures due to COVID-19, DCYA’s First 5 website includes lots of useful guidance documents to support the transition to opening during Covid-19 including guidance on infection control, please see below website:

If you have any further queries about setting up your service, please contact Westmeath CCC on 044 9335454 or info@westmeathchildcare.ie