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Garda Vetting
According to the Child Care (Pre-school Services) Regulations 2006, all childcare providers and childminders notified to the HSE must ensure appropriate vetting for all their staff, students and volunteers (which includes parents who volunteer their help to the service and transition year students)
- Contact details of organisations that carry out Garda Vetting for childcare providers:
Members of the NCNA should contact the NCNA with regard to Garda Vetting at:
Unit 12c, Bluebell Business Park,
Old Naas Road, Bluebell, Dublin 12
Phone: 01 4601138
Website: https://www.ncna.net
IPPA members should get in contact with regard to Garda Vetting at:
Unit 4, Broomhill Business Complex,
Tallaght, Dublin 24
Phone: 01 463 0010
Website: www.ippa.ie
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Those who are not members of NCNA or IPPA should contact:
Barnardos Vetting Service,
The Bowling Green,
White Street,
Cork.
Phone: 021 4547060
Email: vetting@barnardos.ie
Website: https://www.barnardos.ie
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Childminders
It is recommended that childminders and any person over the age of 18 years in the childminder's home be vetted. Childminders notified to the HSE are required to be vetted under the Child Care (Pre-school Services) Regulations 2006. Childminders should apply for Garda Vetting through Barnardos (phone 021 4547060 or email vetting@barnardos.ie).
Press Release from OMCYA to providers of the ECCE Scheme
ECCE Payments - April to June 2011
The ECCE payments for the period April to June 2011 will be processed during the week commencing Monday 28th March 2011. Payments to services which have not provided up-to-date Tax Clearance Certificates (TCCs) will be delayed pending submission of a valid TCC.
If the TCC provided by you to this Office is not up-to-date, please request a new one from the Revenue Commissions and post a copy as soon as possible to the Childcare Directorate, Hawkins House, Dublin 2 or fax to (01) 6354045 stating your ECCE reference number.
38 / 41 week services -
To date your service has been paid for 27 weeks in relation to the ECCE
scheme up to and including Friday 1st April, 2011.
The next payment will be lodged into your bank account on or before Friday
8th April for the balance of 11 weeks for the last term of this scheme.
50 week services -
To date your service has been paid for 30 weeks in relation to the ECCE
scheme up to and including Friday 1st April, 2011.
The next payment will be lodged into your bank account on or before Friday
8th April for 12 weeks, up to and including Friday 1st July, 2011.
The final payment of 8 weeks will then be lodged into your bank account on
or before Friday 8th July, 2011 for the last term of this scheme, which is
payment up to and including Friday 26th August, 2011.
Beep Beep Day a huge success in County Meath
Beep Beep Day Wednesday 13th October 2010 organised by Meath County Childcare Committee in conjunction with the National Road Safety Authority was a huge success throughout the County.
The event which was intended to raise awareness of road safety for the under 5s saw more than 700 children throughout the county take part in various activities from walking buses, story readings, practice walks, visits from the Garda and Lollypop persons. The main event took place in Navan racecourse and took the form of a "The Big Practice" where children and adults from twelve childcare services put into practice some of the key road safety messages they have been learning over the past few weeks.
The road safety campaign for the under 5s was introduced by the RSA earlier this year and is being rolled out in County Meath by Meath County Childcare Committee. The programme is called Simon and Friends.
Meath County Childcare Committee wish to thank Meath County Council Road Safety Officer Michael Finnegan, Navan hire, Navan Race Course and Councillor Shane Cassells for their help they gave to make Meath BEEP BEEP Day such a huge success.
See our Photo Gallery page for more pictures.
Aistear and Síolta
Please click here to link to the website of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment for information on Aistear: The Early Childhood Curriculum Framework.
Please click here or on a title below to link/download Aistear Information leaflets for the groups outlined:
Please click here to link to the Síolta website for information on Síolta The National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education. Information on the principles and standards of Síolta can be accessed on the above site and the various manuals can be viewed.
If you are a parent you can view tips on playing with your child in the parents page.
Voice for Children
Would you like to get involved in a project that gives the children in your service a voice in developing a strategy for childcare services?
This is a great project for the last term and it is a way of showing that you meet the principles of both Síolta and Aistear. IPPA and Start Strong would love to hear what the children have to say and to share their opinions with policy makers. The project can be something you spend 30 minutes/ a day/ or several days working on. See the attachment or www.ippa.ie for more information and photo permission letter.
For further information
Email cbrennan@ippa.ie or ph: Carmel brennan, IPPA at 01 4630027
Meath County Childcare Committee & AIB Better Ireland Community Arts Project
In October 2008 Meath County Childcare Committee were awarded €10,000 under the AIB Better Ireland Awards. The winning project,
"A Sense of Self", is an artist-in-residency project that is targeted towards children of a variety of ages and abilities within the North Meath area.
The documents below provide a summary of the project and a report of the launch night.
Summary of Project (File Size: 910KB)
Launch Night (File Size: 27KB)
 A Sense of Self Launch NightView Photos of the Launch Night in our gallery
ECCE Providers Update
Information update on ECCE scheme for Providers (File Size: 178KB)
Preventing the spread of Swineflu
Stay Healthy: stop the spread of infection by:
- Avoiding close contact with people who appear unwell and have fever and cough
- Always carrying tissues
- Always covering your nose and mouth with clean tissues, when coughing or sneezing
- Always disposing of used tissues into a bin immediately
- Washing your hands thoroughly with soap and water or alcohol based hand cleaners regularly
- Cleaning surfaces regularly to get rid of germs
Guidance for cr�ches/preschool settings in preparing for and managing Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (Swine Flu) (File Size: 52KB)
New Resources for Childminders - "Childminders Support Pack" for Voluntary Notification
The new National Guidelines for Childminders, launched in December 2006, are intended to provide guidance for good practice to assist childminders working in their own home. The guidelines promote and encourage a professional approach to providing a childminding service. They highlight four nationally recognised core areas where certain requirements should be met by childminders, namely Suitability of the person, wellbeing of the child, physical environment and health and safety.
In order to further support childminders to comply with the national guidelines Meath County Childcare Committee in conjunction with county committees from the region have developed a "Childminders Support Pack"
The support pack which contains information, sample forms and policies, checklists, advice and a step by step guide was launched by Minister for Children Mr. Brendan Smith TD in the Kilmore Hotel. In his speech the minister praised the work of the County Childcare Committees and congratulated them on the production of such a useful user friendly pack. He also praised the work of the Childminding Advisory Officers who work directly with childminders and provide a range of services for childminders. He welcomed the fact that the pack was a collaborative action between ten counties which made better use of the funding available to the childminding initiative.
To download the new Childminders Support Pack and the sample forms please follow the link above to go to the publications section of our website.
To find out more about the National Guidelines for Childminders or to avail of the Support Pack for Voluntary Notification, contact Marina Cunningham, Childminder Advisory Officer.
 Childminding Advisory Workers and Minister Smith. Minister for children Mr. Brendan Smith.Launch of New Guidelines for Childminders by Minister Lenihan
The National Guidelines for Childminders will support Childminders and parents by providing answers
to their many questions. The publication is another important step in developing standards in the
childcare sector and is aimed at Childminders who care for small groups of children of mixed ages in
the Childminder's own home.
Childminders are the preferred choice of many parents offering parents a home-from-home environment
for their children. Childminders are a crucial part of our childcare sector: they provide an estimated
70% of childcare for parents in this country, who after all are best placed to make decisions about how
to care for their children.
Mr Lenihan went on to say that childminders offer a very personalised, practical and flexible
childcare service meeting the needs of both parents and children. He said the new Guidelines, which
are aimed at Childminders who care for small groups of children of mixed ages in the Childminder's own
home, would provide support for both Childminders and parents. The National Guidelines for Childminders
set down nationally recognized core requirements and guidelines on good practice to assist Childminders
in adopting and maintaining best practice and will also help parents to understand what they should be
looking for in terms of best practice in Childminding. The Guidelines specify the categories of
Childminders that are legally obliged to notify the HSE that they are providing a childminding
service as well as giving information on how to use the Voluntary Notification system operated
through the HSE in County Meath and the benefits it provides to Childminders.
If you wish to discuss the benefits of voluntary notification, you should contact Marina Cunningham,
Childminding Advisory Officer for County Meath on 046 9073010. To view a copy of the new
Childminding regulations please follow this link:
Guidelines for Childminders (File Size: 4.8MB)
Parent's Information Officer
Meath County Childcare Committee has a new Parents officer, Maria Lynch.
Her role is to provide support and information to parents on their childcare enquiries and options assisting them in all their childcare needs. If you are looking for childcare in Meath, please do not hesitate to contact Maria. She will provide you with links to childminders in your area, list of childcare services and parent and toddler groups locally, and support your family to access suitable childcare in Meath.
You can contact Maria directly on the office on 046-9073010 or 086 6017276.
Tax Relief for Childminders
In his budget speech on 7th December 2005, Minister Cowen announced plans to introduce an income tax exemption for childminders earning less than €15,000 per annum. This support was widely welcomed by childminders throughout the country, it is hoped that the exemption will make more childcare places available
To qualify for the Childminding Tax Relief you need to meet the following criteria
- The Exemption applies only if the total income in a tax year does not exceed €15,000.
- No deductions of any kind are allowed
- You must childmind no more than three children at any one time
- The exemption must be clamed on an annual tax return (each year)
- The childminder must Voluntary Notify their County Childcare Committee
- A claim for relief under this section does not affect mortgage interest relief nor capital gains tax relief if you sell your house
- This income will not affect your entitlement to home carer tax credit.
Even if you are PAYE worker elsewhere part-time, (for example morning in Tesco) you can still claim the childminding tax relief for minding children after school.
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