Childminder
The Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2024, which is the legislation needed to allow for new childminding regulations, was approved by the Government in June 2024 and the plan is for the regulations to come into effect in September 2024. Once approved, this means that from the end of September 2024, Tusla’s Early Years Inspectorate will begin accepting applications for the registration of childminding services.
The new legislation will set out all the details of how childminders will be regulated and will include information on how many children a childminder can care for and what policies and other documents a childminder will need to have. There will be new guidance documents for parents and childminders which will be easy to access and read, and there will be support and training provided to childminders by local City and County Childcare Committees.
Regulations will help to make sure children are safer and are being well cared for when they are in childminding services. Parents can be reassured that their childminder is offering a safe and good quality care to their children. Parents can apply for childcare funding schemes so their childcare costs will be reduced. They will also be able to look at the childminding register to see who is childminding in their area, and this will make it easier for new parents who are looking for childcare.
If you are planning to register as a childminder, you will first need to do some training with your local City and County Childcare committee. This training will provide all the information you need to set your service up and apply for registration with Tusla’s Early Years Inspectorate.
From the end of September 2024 childminders will be able to register their service with the Early Years Inspectorate under the new regulations. Over the coming months we will provide detailed information on this website about the process of registration and ongoing inspection.
As soon as registration is open, we will add a link to the Tusla portal where registration applications can be submitted and we will provide comprehensive, user-friendly guidance materials about how to register, the requirements for registration and what you can expect from your initial pre-registration assessment visit.
