National Childcare Scheme 2025/26
Explorers Afterschool has signed up for the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) for the 2025/26 school year.
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​Explorers' are administrators of this funding scheme. We do not make any decisions or have any input into how the scheme is managed.
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Any parent who wishes to participate in the scheme will need to contact Home · Applicant Portal (ncs.gov.ie) and sign up.
Once you have received your CHICK please forward it to us. We need all the details provided on the CHICK so please screenshot the full award with the child's full name and date of birth visible. Please click the yellow 'view details' button before you take the screenshot.
Parents are responsible for all fees until the CHICK is activated. Parents' need to be aware of their CHICK end date and apply for a new one in a timely manner. It is their responsibility to give us the new CHICK, we do not automatically receive it.
In order to facilitate continuous funding, Explorers must receive the new CHICK at
least a week before our invoices are issued. This is to ensure the retrieval of the
new CHICK before issuing the invoice. Funding is not retrospective. We will not re-issue invoices.
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WE WILL NOT SEND REMINDERS ABOUT CHICK EXPIRY.
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If parents have any questions please contact the Parent Support Centre on 019068530
Fees for NCS have to be calculated 4 x weekly so during the school year you will receive 11 rather than 10 invoices as previously.
​​Fees are paid by direct debit. We are not in a position to re-issue invoices.
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Your fees will vary according to the school calendar, ie whether there are school holidays or camp (ie fewer or extra hours funded) etc.
We will not know the amount of your fees any month until each new invoice is generated.
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Reminder: you will not receive NCS funding for when Explorers is closed, i.e. school closures.
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Invoice Dates
18th August 2025
8th September
6th October
3rd November
1st December
29th December
26th January 2026
23rd February
23rd March
20th April
18th May
The dates of retrieval of the DD are as follows:
1st September 2025
22nd September
20th October
17th November
15th December
12th January 2026
9th February
9th March
6th April
4th May
1st June
If your direct debit fails, there will be an administration charge of €10.00 per incident.